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.
Table 3.1 shows a breakdown of the number of recorded crime incidents by offence type for the year to Q1 2019 and 2020. The large increase in the number of Controlled drug offences included an increase of 826 incidents classified as Possession of drugs for sale or supply (+19.1%) and an increase of 2,040 incidents classified as Possession of drugs for personal use (+14.6%).
There were fewer crimes recorded in the categories of Robbery from the person (down by 120 incidents, or 8%), Theft from person (down by 412 incidents, or 9.2%) and Burglary (not aggravated) (down by 335 incidents, or 2.1%).
There was a substantial increase in the number of recorded incidents of Driving/In charge of a vehicle under the influence of drugs. The number of incidents increased by 825 to a total of 1,540 for the year to Q1 2020. This was more than double the previous year’s figure. Incidents of Driving/In charge of a vehicle while over the legal alcohol limit fell by 785 (-11%) over the same period.
| Table 3.1 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group and annualised2 total to Q1 2019 and 2020 | |||||
| Annualised total to Q1 | |||||
| ICCSq offence group | 2019 | 2020 | Change | % Change | |
| 01 Homicide offences | 71 | 59 | -12 | -16.9 | |
| 01a | Murder | 36 | 38 | 2 | 5.6 |
| 01b | Manslaughter | 7 | 4 | -3 | -42.9 |
| 01c | Infanticide | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 01d | Dangerous driving leading to death | 28 | 17 | -11 | -39.3 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 3,263 | 3,114 | -149 | -4.6 | |
| 02a | Rape of a male or female | 818 | 785 | -33 | -4.0 |
| 02b | Defilement of a boy or girl less than 17 years old | 184 | 187 | 3 | 1.6 |
| 02c | Sexual offence involving mentally impaired person | 24 | 20 | -4 | -16.7 |
| 02d | Aggravated sexual assault | 11 | 6 | -5 | -45.5 |
| 02e | Sexual assault (not aggravated) | 1,758 | 1,714 | -44 | -2.5 |
| 02f | Other sexual offences | 468 | 402 | -66 | -14.1 |
| 03 Attempts or threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 20,769 | 21,211 | 442 | 2.1 | |
| 03a | Murder-attempt | 22 | 26 | 4 | 18.2 |
| 03b | Murder-threat | 1,146 | 1,265 | 119 | 10.4 |
| 03c | Assault causing harm, poisoning | 4,732 | 4,800 | 68 | 1.4 |
| 03d | Other assault | 13,197 | 13,500 | 303 | 2.3 |
| 03e | Harassment and related offences | 1,672 | 1,620 | -52 | -3.1 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 8,829 | 8,704 | -125 | -1.4 | |
| 04a | Dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm | 38 | 24 | -14 | -36.8 |
| 04b | Driving/In charge of a vehicle while over legal alcohol limit | 7,136 | 6,351 | -785 | -11.0 |
| 04c | Driving/In charge of a vehicle under the influence of drugs | 715 | 1,540 | 825 | 115.4 |
| 04f | Endangerment with potential for serious harm or death | 225 | 249 | 24 | 10.7 |
| 04g | Abandoning a child, child neglect and cruelty | 346 | 276 | -70 | -20.2 |
| 04h | Unseaworthy/dangerous use of boat or ship | 1 | 3 | 2 | 200.0 |
| 04i | False alarm/interference with aircraft or air transport facilities | 1 | 3 | 2 | 200.0 |
| 04j | Endangering traffic offences | 367 | 258 | -109 | -29.7 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 138 | 133 | -5 | -3.6 | |
| 05a | False imprisonment | 87 | 98 | 11 | 12.6 |
| 05b | Abduction of person under 16 years of age | 20 | 15 | -5 | -25.0 |
| 05c | Human trafficking offences | 31 | 20 | -11 | -35.5 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2,419 | 2,306 | -113 | -4.7 | |
| 06a | Robbery of an establishment or institution | 593 | 611 | 18 | 3.0 |
| 06b | Robbery of cash or goods in transit | 26 | 32 | 6 | 23.1 |
| 06c | Robbery from the person | 1,504 | 1,384 | -120 | -8.0 |
| 06d | Blackmail or extortion | 162 | 131 | -31 | -19.1 |
| 06e | Carjacking, hijacking/unlawful seizure of aircraft/vessel | 134 | 148 | 14 | 10.4 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 16,751 | 16,436 | -315 | -1.9 | |
| 07a | Aggravated burglary | 277 | 283 | 6 | 2.2 |
| 07b | Burglary (not aggravated) | 16,156 | 15,821 | -335 | -2.1 |
| 07c | Possession of an article (with intent to burgle, steal, demand) | 318 | 332 | 14 | 4.4 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 67,320 | 67,038 | -282 | -0.4 | |
| 08a | Theft/Taking of vehicle and related offences | 4,847 | 4,585 | -262 | -5.4 |
| 08b | Theft from person | 4,487 | 4,075 | -412 | -9.2 |
| 08c | Theft from shop | 24,056 | 24,304 | 248 | 1.0 |
| 08d | Other thefts, handling stolen property | 33,930 | 34,074 | 144 | 0.4 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 6,872 | 7,898 | 1,026 | 14.9 | |
| 09a | Fraud, deception and related offences | 6,872 | 7,898 | 1,026 | 14.9 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 19,163 | 22,166 | 3,003 | 15.7 | |
| 10a | Importation of drugs | 14 | 29 | 15 | 107.1 |
| 10b | Cultivation or manufacture of drugs | 202 | 186 | -16 | -7.9 |
| 10c | Possession of drugs for sale or supply | 4,325 | 5,151 | 826 | 19.1 |
| 10d | Possession of drugs for personal use | 14,018 | 16,058 | 2,040 | 14.6 |
| 10e | Other drug offences | 604 | 742 | 138 | 22.8 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2,497 | 2,778 | 281 | 11.3 | |
| 11a | Explosives, chemical weapons offences | 44 | 85 | 41 | 93.2 |
| 11b | Discharging a firearm | 96 | 102 | 6 | 6.3 |
| 11c | Possession of a firearm | 191 | 206 | 15 | 7.9 |
| 11d | Offensive weapons offences (nec) | 1,994 | 2,179 | 185 | 9.3 |
| 11e | Fireworks offences | 172 | 206 | 34 | 19.8 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 21,729 | 21,349 | -380 | -1.7 | |
| 12a | Arson | 1,671 | 1,554 | -117 | -7.0 |
| 12b | Criminal damage (not arson) | 19,899 | 19,633 | -266 | -1.3 |
| 12c | Litter offences | 159 | 162 | 3 | 1.9 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 32,537 | 31,713 | -824 | -2.5 | |
| 13a | Disorderly conduct | 27,601 | 27,282 | -319 | -1.2 |
| 13b | Trespass offences | 2,238 | 2,305 | 67 | 3.0 |
| 13c | Liquor licensing offences | 545 | 532 | -13 | -2.4 |
| 13d | Prostitution offences | 38 | 103 | 65 | 171.1 |
| 13e | Regulated betting or money, collection or trading offences | 152 | 126 | -26 | -17.1 |
| 13f | Other social code offences (nec) | 1,963 | 1,365 | -598 | -30.5 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 16,549 | 15,775 | -774 | -4.7 | |
| 15a | Offences against government and its agents (nec) | 168 | 263 | 95 | 56.5 |
| 15b | Organisation of crime and conspiracy to commit crime | 4 | 10 | 6 | 150.0 |
| 15c | Perverting the course of justice | 25 | 25 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 15d | Offences while in custody, breach of court orders | 16,352 | 15,477 | -875 | -5.4 |
| 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. | |||||
Table 3.2 shows the trend in recorded crime incidents by incident category over a five-year period, from the year to Q1 2016 until the year to Q1 2020. This information is presented graphically in figures 3.1 and 3.2.
The number of recorded Controlled drug offences has increased year on year in each year over the five years, with a total of 22,166 incidents in the year to Q1 2020 compared to 15,487 incidents in the year to Q1 2016, an increase of 43.1%. In contrast, recorded incidents of Burglary and related offences have fallen by 29.9% compared to four years earlier.
| Table 3.2 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group and annualised2 total to Q1, 2016 to 2020 | |||||
| Annualised total to Q1 | |||||
| ICCSq offence group | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 83 | 88 | 91 | 71 | 59 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 2,318 | 2,632 | 2,939 | 3,263 | 3,114 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 16,987 | 16,918 | 19,344 | 20,769 | 21,211 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 7,192 | 7,807 | 8,288 | 8,829 | 8,704 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 145 | 114 | 124 | 138 | 133 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2,428 | 1,999 | 2,306 | 2,419 | 2,306 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 23,457 | 18,459 | 18,689 | 16,751 | 16,436 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 73,085 | 64,012 | 69,277 | 67,320 | 67,038 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 5,469 | 5,098 | 5,298 | 6,872 | 7,898 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 15,487 | 16,249 | 16,547 | 19,163 | 22,166 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2,332 | 2,112 | 2,382 | 2,497 | 2,778 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 24,889 | 22,024 | 23,025 | 21,729 | 21,349 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 32,816 | 29,061 | 31,092 | 32,537 | 31,713 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 12,002 | 12,556 | 14,274 | 16,549 | 15,775 |
| 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 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 Sexual offences | 2318 | 2632 | 2939 | 3263 | 3114 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2428 | 1999 | 2306 | 2419 | 2306 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 5469 | 5098 | 5298 | 6872 | 7898 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2332 | 2112 | 2382 | 2497 | 2778 |
| X-axis label | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 Sexual offences | 2086 | 2321 | 2635 | 2938 | 3231 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2606 | 2428 | 1999 | 2309 | 2416 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 5376 | 5464 | 5117 | 5322 | 6841 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2489 | 2329 | 2112 | 2381 | 2491 |
| X-axis label | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 23457 | 18459 | 18689 | 16751 | 16436 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 73085 | 64012 | 69277 | 67320 | 67038 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 15487 | 16249 | 16547 | 19163 | 22166 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 24889 | 22024 | 23025 | 21729 | 21349 |
| X-axis label | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 28695 | 23452 | 18446 | 18683 | 16766 |
| 10 Controlled Drug offences | 15503 | 15489 | 16259 | 16564 | 19247 |
| 12 Criminal Damage | 27226 | 24894 | 22033 | 23053 | 21727 |
| 13 Public Order | 32670 | 32815 | 29077 | 31108 | 32571 |
The Garda regional structure changed in Q4 2019. This reduced the number of Garda regions from six to four. The four regions are
A breakdown of recorded crime incidents by Garda region for the years to Q1 2019 and 2020, using the new Garda regions, is provided in Table 3.3. The number of Fraud and related offences rose across all regions in the year to Q1 2020.
The proportion of recorded incidents of Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences which occurred in the Dublin Metropolitan Region represented 67.5% of the national total in the year to Q1 2020, and fell by 197, or 11.2%, compared to the previous year. 54% of incidents recorded under Theft and related offences took place in the Dublin Metropolitan Region in the year to Q1 2020.
Recorded incidents of Controlled drug offences in the North Western Region rose by 605 (+26.3%) in the year to Q1 2020 compared to the previous year, while the numbers of Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences and Weapons and explosives offences also rose sharply, by 19.7% and 19.3% respectively.
In the Eastern Region there was an increase of 780 recorded incidents of Controlled drug offences compared to the previous period, while there was a decrease in the number of incidents of Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences (down by 202, or 4.2%) and Public order and other social code offences (down by 242 or 3.9%).
In the Southern Region the numbers of Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences increased by 54 (+23.3%), while there were significant falls in the numbers of Sexual offences (down by 87, or 11.3%) and Public order and other social code offences (down by 791, or 9.2%).
| Table 3.3 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group, Garda region2 and annualised3 total to Q1 2019 and 2020 | |||||
| Garda region | |||||
| ICCSq offence group | Dublin Metropolitan | North Western | Eastern | Southern | State |
| Annualised total to Q1 2019 | |||||
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 18 | 20 | 14 | 19 | 71 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 1,013 | 671 | 808 | 771 | 3,263 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 6,872 | 4,418 | 4,796 | 4,683 | 20,769 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 1,862 | 2,190 | 2,410 | 2,367 | 8,829 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 50 | 36 | 21 | 31 | 138 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 1,754 | 178 | 255 | 232 | 2,419 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 7,702 | 2,432 | 3,976 | 2,641 | 16,751 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 35,745 | 7,266 | 12,554 | 11,755 | 67,320 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 3,057 | 1,121 | 1,459 | 1,235 | 6,872 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 7,235 | 2,301 | 5,274 | 4,353 | 19,163 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 1,170 | 389 | 451 | 487 | 2,497 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 8,626 | 3,903 | 4,625 | 4,575 | 21,729 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 10,684 | 7,045 | 6,254 | 8,554 | 32,537 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 9,099 | 1,732 | 2,694 | 3,024 | 16,549 |
| Annualised total to Q1 2020 | |||||
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 22 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 59 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 960 | 652 | 818 | 684 | 3,114 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 7,348 | 4,488 | 4,594 | 4,781 | 21,211 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 2,108 | 2,141 | 2,251 | 2,204 | 8,704 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 49 | 23 | 21 | 40 | 133 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 1,557 | 213 | 250 | 286 | 2,306 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 7,521 | 2,346 | 4,046 | 2,523 | 16,436 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 36,172 | 7,557 | 12,383 | 10,926 | 67,038 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 3,516 | 1,353 | 1,612 | 1,417 | 7,898 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 8,916 | 2,906 | 6,054 | 4,290 | 22,166 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 1,300 | 464 | 486 | 528 | 2,778 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 8,527 | 3,850 | 4,689 | 4,283 | 21,349 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 10,863 | 7,075 | 6,012 | 7,763 | 31,713 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 8,906 | 2,012 | 2,505 | 2,352 | 15,775 |
| Annualised total change to Q1 2020 | |||||
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 4 | -9 | -3 | -4 | -12 |
| 02 Sexual offences | -53 | -19 | 10 | -87 | -149 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 476 | 70 | -202 | 98 | 442 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 246 | -49 | -159 | -163 | -125 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | -1 | -13 | 0 | 9 | -5 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | -197 | 35 | -5 | 54 | -113 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | -181 | -86 | 70 | -118 | -315 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 427 | 291 | -171 | -829 | -282 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 459 | 232 | 153 | 182 | 1,026 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 1,681 | 605 | 780 | -63 | 3,003 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 130 | 75 | 35 | 41 | 281 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | -99 | -53 | 64 | -292 | -380 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 179 | 30 | -242 | -791 | -824 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | -193 | 280 | -189 | -672 | -774 |
| 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 These figures reflect recorded crime according to new Garda regions which became operational during Q4 2019. | |||||
| 3 The annualised figure for a given quarter is the total number of crimes recorded in the 12 months prior to end of that quarter. | |||||
| Dublin Metropolitan | North Western | Eastern | Southern | |
| 02 Sexual offences | 31.0450505669629 | 20.5638982531413 | 24.7624885075084 | 23.6285626723874 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 72.5093013642001 | 7.35841256717652 | 10.541546093427 | 9.59073997519636 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 45.9793445167453 | 14.5185362067936 | 23.7358963643962 | 15.766222912065 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 53.0971479500891 | 10.7932263814617 | 18.6482471776589 | 17.4613784907903 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 37.7550487919428 | 12.0075144810312 | 27.5217867766007 | 22.7156499504253 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 39.6980993142805 | 17.9621703713931 | 21.2849187721478 | 21.0548115421787 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 32.8364631035437 | 21.6522727971233 | 19.221194332606 | 26.2900697667271 |
The Statbank Tables are available here
Go to next chapter: Background Notes
