Following the publication of the fifth Review of the Quality of Crime Statistics in October 2023, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has lifted the 'Under Reservation' categorisation around Recorded Crime Statistics. This is possible because An Garda Síochána have introduced a range of quality measures over the last number of years which have resulted in sustained improvement in the quality of the underlying crime data. These changes give a level of assurance to users that they can rely on Recorded Crime Statistics.
For further information see our Lifting of Under Reservation categorisation for Recorded Crime Statistics FAQ page.
Recorded incidents of Robbery, Extortion & Hijacking offences were up by 18% or 390 to 2,572 in the year to Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. This was driven mostly a rise in incidents of Blackmail or Extortion and Robbery from the Person offences.
Crime incidents involving Weapons & Explosives offences were up by 10% or 253 to 2,844 incidents over the period while those involving Theft & Related offences increased by 9% or 6,415 to 75,825 incidents. More than two out of every five (44%) incidents of Theft & Related offences involved Theft from Shops.
Crime incidents of Fraud, Deception & Related offences were also up over the period, rising by 9% or 933 to 11,479 incidents.
Among those offence groups where recorded crime incidents fell, the most prominent were Offences against Government, Justice Procedures & Organisation of Crime (-16%), Sexual offences (-12%) and Homicide & Related offences (-8%).
Victims of Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments & Related offences fell by 2% in Q1 2024 when compared with Q1 2023. The number of male victims however rose by 2% while the number of female victims was down by 9%.
The CSO published its fifth CSO Review of the Quality of Recorded Crime Statistics in October 2023. As part of this review the CSO has lifted the ‘Under Reservation’ designation from all Recorded Crime data disseminated after Quarter 1 (Q1) 2023.
An Garda Síochána (AGS) has worked over the past number of years to advance the assurance levels that can be provided around Garda PULSE data, and in particular the quality management developments of 2022 and 2023. This work has seen the development of quality assurance processes by AGS over the period which has culminated in the implementation of a more formal data quality management system by AGS.
The recorded crime series has been progressively improving over time with the cumulative impact of the improved data quality, assessment, and assurance measures being seen in a higher data quality level as noted in various CSO reviews in recent years.
Given the new AGS controls for quality checking and reporting, coupled with the CSO reserving the right to do its own reviews, a level of assurance has been provided warranting the lifting of the "Under Reservation” categorisation.
However, users should exercise some judgement when using data produced in the earlier years of the recorded crime time series given the legacy quality issues which have been commented on in various reviews. For instance, detections data pre and post-2018 are not comparable given the improved governance controls introduced in that year. The CSO will continue to inform users of the quality of the data they are using, and of any particular issues which may need to be noted around time series comparability as they arise.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (26 June 2023) released Recorded Crime Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024.
Commenting on the publication, Jim Dalton, Statistician in the Crime & Criminal Justice Section, said: “Recorded Crime statistics published today for January, February and March, (Q1) 2024 showed that Robbery, Weapons, Theft and Fraud crimes were up in the year to Q1 2024 compared with a year earlier. Among those offence groups where the number of crime incidents fell were Offences against Government, Justice Procedures & Organisation of Crime (mainly Offences While in Custody and Breach of Court Orders), Sexual offences, and Homicide & Related offences.
Crime Trends in the year to Q1 2024
The number of recorded incidents of Robbery, Extortion & Hijacking offences increased by 18% or 390 to 2,572 in the year to Q1 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. This was driven mostly by a rise in incidents of Blackmail or Extortion and Robbery from the Person offences.
Incidents of Weapons & Explosives offences were up by 10% or 253 to 2,844 incidents over the same period. Theft & Related offences were up by 9% or 6,415 to 75,825 incidents with Theft from Shops accounting for more than two in five (44%) of these incidents. See Table 4.1.
Recorded crime incidents of Fraud, Deception & Related offences were also up over the period, rising by 9% or 933 to 11,479 incidents. There were also increases in incidents relating to Burglary & Related offences (+6%) and Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments & Related offences (+1%) while those relating to Damage to Property & to the Environment remained unchanged.
By contrast, there were falls in incidents involving Offences against Government, Justice Procedures & Organisation of Crime (-16%) (mainly Offences While in Custody and Breach of Court Orders), Sexual offences (-12%), Homicide & Related offences (-8%), and Dangerous or Negligent Acts (-6%). Additionally, incidents involving Public Order & Other Social Code offences and Controlled Drug offences were down by 5% and 4% respectively.
Analysis of Changing Crime Trends since 2020
The data shows that burglary, fraud, drug, and offences against government crime levels in the year to Q1 2024 have remained quite different to pre COVID-19 levels.
The number of recorded incidents of Burglary & Related offences fell from 16,410 in 2020 to 8,927 in 2021 which coincided with Public Health Restrictions being in place at the time. As restrictions were lifted in 2022, the number of incidents rose to 9,257 and remained at nearly the same at 9,251 in 2023 before rising to 9,806 incidents in 2024. This was 40% fewer incidents of Burglary & Related offences than the total recorded in 2020.
The number of incidents of Fraud, Deception & Related offences in 2024 at 11,479 was 43% more than the 8,025 incidents recorded in 2020. The number of incidents for this category more than doubled to 17,566 between 2020 and 2022 before falling back to 10,546 in 2023.
The number of crime incidents involving Controlled Drug offences increased from 22,005 to 23,968 between 2020 and 2021 before falling to 17,781 in 2022. There was not much change in 2023 at 17,614 but those crime incidents fell to 16,874 in 2024.
In the case of Offences against Government, Justice Procedures & Organisation of Crime which comprised mainly of Offences While in Custody and Breach of Court Orders, there was a fall from 17,410 to 9,707 between 2020 and 2021. The number of these types of incidents rose to 13,114 in 2022 and 16,592 in 2023 before falling back to 13,982 in 2024.
Crime Trends Among Garda Regions in the year to Q1 2024
The number of recorded crime incidents increased across all regions for five out of the fourteen offence categories in the year to Q1 2024. The most significant of these were as follows:
By contrast, the number of recorded crime incidents for a further two offence groups fell across all regions during the same period.
For all other offence groups, the experience across Garda regions was mixed.
Victims of Assault offences
Victims of Attempts/Threats to Murder, Assaults, Harassments & Related offences in the year to Q1 2024 fell by 2% from the same period in 2023. Six in ten (60%) victims were male in Q1 2024 compared with four in ten (40%) for female victims. The number of male victims was up by 2% while female victims fell by 9%.
When one looks at the age profile of male victims, the results show that the number of victims who were over 18 years at the time of the incident increased over the period. The highest rate of increase (+16%) was among victims aged 60 years or more. Victims aged 30-44 years, which accounted for almost a third (32%) of all male victims, rose by 5% while those aged between 18 and 29 years increased by 4%. The number of victims who were under 18 years of age however fell by 9%.
A quite different picture emerged for female victims where there were decreases across all age groups. Of particular note was a fall of 26% in the number of female victims who were under 18 years of age when the incident occurred. The number of victims aged 18-29 years fell by 10% and those aged 60 years or more fell by 9%. To a lesser extent, victims aged 30-44 years and 45-59 years both fell by 4% over the period.
Impact of COVID-19 on Data for 2020 and 2021
Data for 2020 and 2021 for some crime categories are likely to have been influenced by the public health restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”