These statistics are categorised as Under Reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO.
For further information please refer to the Under Reservation FAQ page.
CSO statistical publication, , 11am
Increases in Fraud and Sexual Offences and most crime groups in 2017
Substantial revisions to previously published Homicide data
There was an increase of 23% in the number of Fraud, deception and related offences (Group 09) recorded in 2017 compared to 2016. Sexual offences (Group 02) rose by 16.9% over the same period from 2,520 to 2,945 offences. There was also an increase of 13% (from 16,640 offences to 18,803) in Attempts or threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences (Group 03). Weapons and explosives offences (Group 11) rose by 235 (or 11%) to 2,367 offences for 2017.
On the other hand there was a fall of 20 incidents in Homicide Offences (Group 01) between 2016 and 2017. It is likely that this figure will be subject to revision as it is sometimes the case that fatal road traffic incidents lead to crime incidents of Dangerous Driving Leading to Death as investigations progress. See table 1.1.
When looking at annual changes to the data it is useful to look at trends over time. This information is available in table 4.2 and figures 4.1 and 4.2. of the additional statistical tables.
| Table 1.1: Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group and annualised2 total to Q4 2016 and 2017 | ||||
| Annualised total to Q4 | ||||
| ICCSq offence group | 2016 | 2017 | Change | % Change |
| 01 Homicide offences | 91 | 71 | -20 | -22.0 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 2,520 | 2,945 | +425 | +16.9 |
| 03 Attempts or threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 16,640 | 18,803 | +2,163 | +13.0 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 7,686 | 8,355 | +669 | +8.7 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 123 | 133 | +10 | +8.1 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2,098 | 2,192 | +94 | +4.5 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 18,478 | 19,092 | +614 | +3.3 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 64,800 | 69,788 | +4,988 | +7.7 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 4,940 | 6,075 | +1,135 | +23.0 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 16,044 | 16,880 | +836 | +5.2 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2,132 | 2,367 | +235 | +11.0 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 22,213 | 23,294 | +1,081 | +4.9 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 29,234 | 31,188 | +1,954 | +6.7 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 12,316 | 13,022 | +706 | +5.7 |
| 1 These statistics are categorised as Under Reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by CSO. | ||||
| 2 The annualised figure for a given quarter is the total number of crimes recorded in the 12 months prior to end of that quarter. | ||||
| X-axis label | 02 Sexual offences | 03 Attempts or threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 07 Burglary and related offences | 08 Theft and related offences | 12 Damage to property and the environment | 13 Public order and other social code offences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % change | 16.9 | 13 | 3.3 | 7.7 | 4.9 | 6.7 |
The rectification of PULSE crime incident records by An Garda Siochana means that there are revisions to Recorded Crime statistics covering the period 2003 to 2016 from those last published by the CSO in March 2017. These changes are most apparent in Homicides (Group 01). A summary of the changes is shown in table 1.2 and figure 1.2. Over the period 2003 to 2016 inclusive the recorded number of homicide incidents has risen from 1,282 to 1,516 or a rise of 234 (+18.3%). This rise is primarily concentrated in Dangerous driving leading to death where offences over the period rose from 504 to 700, up 38.9%. The number of Manslaughters rose by 43.6% (from 94 to 135) or 41 offences while the number of murders fell slightly by 3 (683 down to 680) or 0.4%. See table 1.2 and figure 1.2.
The Homicide Statistics Revisions chapter provides further details of the revisions for each year and subcategory within the group. This chapter also summarises the data quality issues that have led to the revisions.
| Table 1.2: Comparison of previously published and revised homicide incident data 2003-2016 | ||||
| Published | Revised | Difference | Difference | |
| No of Incidents | No of Incidents | No of incidents | % | |
| Murder | 683 | 680 | -3 | -0.4 |
| Manslaughter | 94 | 135 | 41 | 43.6 |
| Infanticide | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Dangerous driving leading to death | 504 | 700 | 196 | 38.9 |
| Total Homicide | 1,282 | 1,516 | 234 | 18.3 |
| These statistics are categorised as under reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by CSO. | ||||
| X-axis label | Previous total | Revised total |
|---|---|---|
| 01a Murder | 683 | 680 |
| 01b Manslaughter | 94 | 135 |
| 01d Dangerous Driving Leading to Death | 504 | 700 |
|
CSO have resumed publication of Recorded Crime Statistics notwithstanding the fact that there are data quality issues in the underlying data used to compile these statistics. The new classification Statistics Under Reservation has been applied to signal these data quality issues to users. This approach of differentiating statistics based on quality concerns associated with the underlying data is consistent with other jurisdictions such as England and Wales. In the case of Recorded Crime statistics, the new classification will actively alert users to the underlying quality deficiencies and inform them that further revisions can be expected. A more comprehensive explanation of the background to this decision is contained here. |
The Statbank Tables are available here
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