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 provides further breakdown by offence type of the total number of recorded crime incidents in 2020 compared with 2019.
As outlined earlier, the overall number of homicide offences recorded for 2020 rose by nine compared to 2019, driven by an increase of 10 in the number of incidents classified as Dangerous driving leading to death. The combined figure for Murder and Manslaughter incidents fell by one compared to the previous year.
There was a substantial increase in the number of incidents of Driving/In charge of a vehicle under the influence of drugs. The number of incidents more than doubled, increasing by 1,380 (+109.3%) to a total of 2,643 in 2020. Incidents of Driving/In charge of a vehicle while over the legal alcohol limit fell by 1,372 (-20.9%) over the same period.
The increase in the overall number of Controlled drug offences included an increase of 1,230 incidents classified as Possession of drugs for sale or supply (+25.7%) and an increase of 188 incidents classified as Cultivation or manufacture of drugs (+97.9%).
There were fewer crimes recorded in the categories of Robbery from the person (down by 359 incidents, or 26.2%), Theft from person (down by 2,519 incidents, or 58.5%) and Burglary (not aggravated) (down by 5,804 incidents, or 36%) in 2020 than in the previous year.
| Table 3.1 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group and annualised2 total to Q4 2019 and 2020 | |||||
| Annualised total to Q4 | |||||
| ICCSq offence group | 2019 | 2020 | Change | % Change | |
| 01 Homicide offences | 64 | 73 | 9 | 14.1 | |
| 01a | Murder | 36 | 34 | -2 | -5.6 |
| 01b | Manslaughter | 3 | 4 | 1 | 33.3 |
| 01c | Infanticide | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 01d | Dangerous driving leading to death | 25 | 35 | 10 | 40.0 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 3,340 | 2,986 | -354 | -10.6 | |
| 02a | Rape of a male or female | 830 | 767 | -63 | -7.6 |
| 02b | Defilement of a boy or girl less than 17 years old | 200 | 218 | 18 | 9.0 |
| 02c | Sexual offence involving mentally impaired person | 20 | 13 | -7 | -35.0 |
| 02d | Aggravated sexual assault | 9 | 4 | -5 | -55.6 |
| 02e | Sexual assault (not aggravated) | 1,772 | 1,543 | -229 | -12.9 |
| 02f | Other sexual offences | 509 | 441 | -68 | -13.4 |
| 03 Attempts or threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 21,775 | 18,893 | -2,882 | -13.2 | |
| 03a | Murder-attempt | 27 | 19 | -8 | -29.6 |
| 03b | Murder-threat | 1,254 | 1,513 | 259 | 20.7 |
| 03c | Assault causing harm, poisoning | 5,019 | 4,139 | -880 | -17.5 |
| 03d | Other assault | 13,795 | 11,552 | -2,243 | -16.3 |
| 03e | Harassment and related offences | 1,680 | 1,670 | -10 | -0.6 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 8,691 | 8,717 | 26 | 0.3 | |
| 04a | Dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm | 39 | 22 | -17 | -43.6 |
| 04b | Driving/In charge of a vehicle while over legal alcohol limit | 6,567 | 5,195 | -1,372 | -20.9 |
| 04c | Driving/In charge of a vehicle under the influence of drugs | 1,263 | 2,643 | 1,380 | 109.3 |
| 04f | Endangerment with potential for serious harm or death | 232 | 334 | 102 | 44.0 |
| 04g | Abandoning a child, child neglect and cruelty | 308 | 300 | -8 | -2.6 |
| 04h | Unseaworthy/dangerous use of boat or ship | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 04i | False alarm/interference with aircraft or air transport facilities | 3 | 2 | -1 | -33.3 |
| 04j | Endangering traffic offences | 276 | 218 | -58 | -21.0 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 127 | 130 | 3 | 2.4 | |
| 05a | False imprisonment | 87 | 106 | 19 | 21.8 |
| 05b | Abduction of person under 16 years of age | 21 | 8 | -13 | -61.9 |
| 05c | Human trafficking offences | 19 | 16 | -3 | -15.8 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2,343 | 1,807 | -536 | -22.9 | |
| 06a | Robbery of an establishment or institution | 636 | 387 | -249 | -39.2 |
| 06b | Robbery of cash or goods in transit | 35 | 10 | -25 | -71.4 |
| 06c | Robbery from the person | 1,368 | 1,009 | -359 | -26.2 |
| 06d | Blackmail or extortion | 149 | 219 | 70 | 47.0 |
| 06e | Carjacking, hijacking/unlawful seizure of aircraft/vessel | 155 | 182 | 27 | 17.4 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 16,748 | 10,938 | -5,810 | -34.7 | |
| 07a | Aggravated burglary | 274 | 293 | 19 | 6.9 |
| 07b | Burglary (not aggravated) | 16,140 | 10,336 | -5,804 | -36.0 |
| 07c | Possession of an article (with intent to burgle, steal, demand) | 334 | 309 | -25 | -7.5 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 68,158 | 51,474 | -16,684 | -24.5 | |
| 08a | Theft/Taking of vehicle and related offences | 4,750 | 3,781 | -969 | -20.4 |
| 08b | Theft from person | 4,306 | 1,787 | -2,519 | -58.5 |
| 08c | Theft from shop | 24,682 | 19,568 | -5,114 | -20.7 |
| 08d | Other thefts, handling stolen property | 34,420 | 26,338 | -8,082 | -23.5 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 7,962 | 7,818 | -144 | -1.8 | |
| 09a | Fraud, deception and related offences | 7,962 | 7,818 | -144 | -1.8 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 21,348 | 23,285 | 1,937 | 9.1 | |
| 10a | Importation of drugs | 28 | 21 | -7 | -25.0 |
| 10b | Cultivation or manufacture of drugs | 192 | 380 | 188 | 97.9 |
| 10c | Possession of drugs for sale or supply | 4,791 | 6,021 | 1,230 | 25.7 |
| 10d | Possession of drugs for personal use | 15,623 | 15,908 | 285 | 1.8 |
| 10e | Other drug offences | 714 | 955 | 241 | 33.8 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2,685 | 3,085 | 400 | 14.9 | |
| 11a | Explosives, chemical weapons offences | 80 | 58 | -22 | -27.5 |
| 11b | Discharging a firearm | 96 | 87 | -9 | -9.4 |
| 11c | Possession of a firearm | 206 | 230 | 24 | 11.7 |
| 11d | Offensive weapons offences (nec) | 2,097 | 2,421 | 324 | 15.5 |
| 11e | Fireworks offences | 206 | 289 | 83 | 40.3 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 21,908 | 19,504 | -2,404 | -11.0 | |
| 12a | Arson | 1,588 | 1,386 | -202 | -12.7 |
| 12b | Criminal damage (not arson) | 20,165 | 17,926 | -2,239 | -11.1 |
| 12c | Litter offences | 155 | 192 | 37 | 23.9 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 32,400 | 28,980 | -3,420 | -10.6 | |
| 13a | Disorderly conduct | 27,965 | 24,449 | -3,516 | -12.6 |
| 13b | Trespass offences | 2,271 | 2,444 | 173 | 7.6 |
| 13c | Liquor licensing offences | 530 | 304 | -226 | -42.6 |
| 13d | Prostitution offences | 111 | 29 | -82 | -73.9 |
| 13e | Regulated betting or money, collection or trading offences | 124 | 51 | -73 | -58.9 |
| 13f | Other social code offences (nec) | 1,399 | 1,703 | 304 | 21.7 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 17,614 | 10,371 | -7,243 | -41.1 | |
| 15a | Offences against government and its agents (nec) | 249 | 283 | 34 | 13.7 |
| 15b | Organisation of crime and conspiracy to commit crime | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 15c | Perverting the course of justice | 28 | 33 | 5 | 17.9 |
| 15d | Offences while in custody, breach of court orders | 17,325 | 10,043 | -7,282 | -42.0 |
| 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 2016 to 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 over the five years, with a total of 23,285 incidents in 2020 compared to 16,020 incidents in 2016, an increase of 45.3%. The number of Fraud, deception and related offences has risen considerably over the 5-year period, up from 4,933 incidents in 2016 to 7,818 in 2020, an increase of 58.5%. In contrast, recorded incidents of Burglary and related offences have decreased substantially, falling by 41.1% between 2016 and 2020.
| Table 3.2 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group and annualised2 total to Q4, 2016 to 2020 | |||||
| Annualised total to Q4 | |||||
| ICCSq offence group | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 85 | 96 | 85 | 64 | 73 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 2,520 | 2,881 | 3,206 | 3,340 | 2,986 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 16,719 | 18,988 | 20,176 | 21,775 | 18,893 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 7,684 | 8,366 | 8,555 | 8,691 | 8,717 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 123 | 130 | 133 | 127 | 130 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2,106 | 2,186 | 2,444 | 2,343 | 1,807 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 18,573 | 19,198 | 16,955 | 16,748 | 10,938 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 64,467 | 69,262 | 66,915 | 68,158 | 51,474 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 4,933 | 5,416 | 6,295 | 7,962 | 7,818 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 16,020 | 16,761 | 18,287 | 21,348 | 23,285 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2,135 | 2,379 | 2,443 | 2,685 | 3,085 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 22,174 | 23,137 | 21,525 | 21,908 | 19,504 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 29,210 | 31,186 | 31,962 | 32,400 | 28,980 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 12,324 | 13,790 | 16,333 | 17,614 | 10,371 |
| 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 | 2520 | 2881 | 3206 | 3340 | 2986 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2106 | 2186 | 2444 | 2343 | 1807 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 4933 | 5416 | 6295 | 7962 | 7818 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2135 | 2379 | 2443 | 2685 | 3085 |
| X-axis label | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 18573 | 19198 | 16955 | 16748 | 10938 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 64467 | 69262 | 66915 | 68158 | 51474 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 16020 | 16761 | 18287 | 21348 | 23285 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 22174 | 23137 | 21525 | 21908 | 19504 |
The Garda regional structure changed in 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 2019 and 2020, using the new Garda regions, is provided in Table 3.3. The proportion of recorded incidents of Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences which occurred in the Dublin Metropolitan Region represented 69.9% of the national total in 2020. Robberies in the Dublin Metropolitan Region in 2020 fell by 329, or 20.7%, compared to the previous year.
Recorded incidents of Controlled drug offences in the North Western Region rose by 625 (+22.3%) in 2020 compared to the previous year, but there were considerable falls in the same region in the numbers of Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences (down by 88 or 40%), Burglary and related offences (down by 791, or 33.7%) and Public order and other social code offences (down by 1,742, or 24%).
In the Eastern Region, Burglary and related offences (down by 1,764, or 42.2%) and Theft and related offences (down by 3,353, or 26.6%) dropped sharply. In the same region there were also fewer incidents of Controlled drug offences (down by 859, or 14.7%), but there was an increase in Weapons and explosives offences (up by 132, or 28%).
In the Southern Region, there were fewer incidents recorded in Burglary and related offences (down by 698, or 27.9%), Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences (down by 77, or 27.7%) and Theft and related offences (down by 2,387, or 21.5%), and increases in the numbers of incidents of Weapons and explosives offences (up by 23.1%) and Controlled drug offences (up by 20.2%).
| Table 3.3 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group, Garda region2 and annualised3 total to Q4 2019 and 2020 | |||||
| Garda region | |||||
| ICCSq offence group | Dublin Metropolitan | North Western | Eastern | Southern | State |
| Annualised total to Q4 2019 | |||||
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 23 | 12 | 12 | 17 | 64 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 1,055 | 704 | 834 | 747 | 3,340 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 7,434 | 4,614 | 4,722 | 5,005 | 21,775 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 1,974 | 2,125 | 2,343 | 2,249 | 8,691 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 40 | 27 | 19 | 41 | 127 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 1,592 | 220 | 253 | 278 | 2,343 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 7,719 | 2,348 | 4,177 | 2,504 | 16,748 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 36,986 | 7,437 | 12,611 | 11,124 | 68,158 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 3,529 | 1,371 | 1,616 | 1,446 | 7,962 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 8,369 | 2,807 | 5,842 | 4,330 | 21,348 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 1,257 | 454 | 472 | 502 | 2,685 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 8,861 | 3,964 | 4,657 | 4,426 | 21,908 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 10,935 | 7,261 | 6,232 | 7,972 | 32,400 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 10,006 | 2,131 | 2,801 | 2,676 | 17,614 |
| Annualised total to Q4 2020 | |||||
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 25 | 16 | 14 | 18 | 73 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 924 | 608 | 794 | 660 | 2,986 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 6,606 | 3,957 | 4,201 | 4,129 | 18,893 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 2,431 | 2,097 | 2,129 | 2,060 | 8,717 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 49 | 39 | 22 | 20 | 130 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 1,263 | 132 | 211 | 201 | 1,807 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 5,162 | 1,557 | 2,413 | 1,806 | 10,938 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 27,627 | 5,852 | 9,258 | 8,737 | 51,474 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 3,319 | 1,433 | 1,620 | 1,446 | 7,818 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 9,667 | 3,432 | 4,983 | 5,203 | 23,285 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 1,363 | 500 | 604 | 618 | 3,085 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 7,838 | 3,521 | 4,279 | 3,866 | 19,504 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 11,493 | 5,519 | 5,185 | 6,783 | 28,980 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 4,786 | 1,410 | 1,939 | 2,236 | 10,371 |
| Annualised total change to Q4 2020 | |||||
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 02 Sexual offences | -131 | -96 | -40 | -87 | -354 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | -828 | -657 | -521 | -876 | -2,882 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 457 | -28 | -214 | -189 | 26 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 9 | 12 | 3 | -21 | 3 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | -329 | -88 | -42 | -77 | -536 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | -2,557 | -791 | -1,764 | -698 | -5,810 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | -9,359 | -1,585 | -3,353 | -2,387 | -16,684 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | -210 | 62 | 4 | 0 | -144 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 1,298 | 625 | -859 | 873 | 1,937 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 106 | 46 | 132 | 116 | 400 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | -1,023 | -443 | -378 | -560 | -2,404 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 558 | -1,742 | -1,047 | -1,189 | -3,420 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | -5,220 | -721 | -862 | -440 | -7,243 |
| 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 | 30.9444072337575 | 20.3616878767582 | 26.5907568653717 | 22.1031480241125 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 69.8948533480908 | 7.3049252905368 | 11.6768123962369 | 11.1234089651356 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 47.1932711647468 | 14.2347778387274 | 22.0607057963065 | 16.5112452002194 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 53.6717566149901 | 11.3688464078952 | 17.9857792283483 | 16.9736177487664 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 41.5159974232338 | 14.7391024264548 | 21.4000429461026 | 22.3448572042087 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 40.1866283839212 | 18.0527071369975 | 21.9390894175554 | 19.8215750615258 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 39.6583850931677 | 19.0441683919945 | 17.8916494133885 | 23.4057971014493 |
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