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Crime

-34.7%
The fall in Burglary and related offences, 2020

Recorded Crime statistics are produced on a quarterly basis by the Central Statistics Office.

The Recorded Crime electronic publication and related tables provide statistical information on the volume and type of crimes recorded by An Garda Síochána.

Recorded Crime statistics are compiled exclusively from administrative records created and maintained by An Garda Síochána, Ireland’s National Police and Security Service, on their incident recording system PULSE (Police Using Leading Systems Effectively).

Published figures may be subject to revision as underlying records are subject to update, review or revision by An Garda Síochána as investigations progress.

Visit tables CJA01-CJQ06 on PxStat

Link to publication: Quarterly Recorded Crime

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Recorded Crime statistics are categorised by the Central Statistics Office as Statistics Under Reservation. This category is used to keep users informed about the quality of statistical outputs and arises because of ongoing data quality issues within the data source. In the case of PULSE data, it informs users that Recorded Crime statistics based on recorded incidents on PULSE may understate or overstate the prevalence of reported offences and may be subject to revisions in subsequent statistical publications.

Please see Statistics Under Reservation FAQs for further information.

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Continuing lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to have contributed to sharp falls in Recorded Crime levels in Ireland in 2020.

The total number of recorded crimes in 2020 fell sharply in the categories of Burglary and related offences (down by 5,810, or 34.7%), Theft and related offences (down by 16,684, or 24.5%) and Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences (down by 536, or 22.9%), when compared with 2019. 

There were also notable decreases in the numbers of recorded crime incidents classified as Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences (down by 2,882, or 13.2%), and Sexual offences (down by 354, or 10.6%) compared to 2019. Crimes classified as Damage to property and to the environment fell by 11% and Public order and other social code offences fell by 10.6%.

There were increases in the numbers of recorded incidents in the categories of Weapons and explosives offences (up by 14.9%) and Controlled drug offences (up by 9.1%) in 2020 compared to the previous year.

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 were 1,101 breaches of COVID-19 regulations which were classified as crime incidents by An Garda Síochána in 2020 and included breaches of regulations relating to domestic travel restrictions, licensed premises, wearing of face coverings and international travel. These incidents are not included in the statistical tables due to difficulties aligning them with the existing statistical classification. 

Table 6.1 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group, annualised2 total to Q4 2019 and 2020
 Annualised total to Q4
ICCSq offence group20192020Change% Change
01 Homicide and related offences6473914.1
02 Sexual offences3,3402,986-354-10.6
03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences21,77518,893-2,882-13.2
04 Dangerous or negligent acts8,6918,717260.3
05 Kidnapping and related offences12713032.4
06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences 2,3431,807-536-22.9
07 Burglary and related offences16,74810,938-5,810-34.7
08 Theft and related offences68,15851,474-16,684-24.5
09 Fraud, deception and related offences7,9627,818-144-1.8
10 Controlled drug offences21,34823,2851,9379.1
11 Weapons and explosives offences2,6853,08540014.9
12 Damage to property and to the environment21,90819,504-2,404-11.0
13 Public order and other social code offences32,40028,980-3,420-10.6
15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime 17,61410,371-7,243-41.1
Source: CSO
1 These statistics are categorised as Under Reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics does 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.
01 Homicide and related offences02 Sexual offences03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences05 Kidnapping and related offences06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences 07 Burglary and related offences08 Theft and related offences09 Fraud, deception and related offences10 Controlled drug offences11 Weapons and explosives offences12 Damage to property and to the environment13 Public order and other social code offences
ICCSq offence group14.1-10.6-13.22.4-22.9-34.7-24.5-1.89.114.9-11-10.6
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Table 6.2 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 6.2 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group and annualised2 total to Q4 2019 and 2020
 Annualised total to Q4
ICCSq offence group20192020Change% Change
01 Homicide offences6473914.1
01a Murder3634-2-5.6
01bManslaughter34133.3
01cInfanticide0000.0
01d Dangerous driving leading to death25351040.0
 
02 Sexual offences3,3402,986-354-10.6
02aRape of a male or female830767-63-7.6
02bDefilement of a boy or girl less than 17 years old200218189.0
02cSexual offence involving mentally impaired person2013-7-35.0
02dAggravated sexual assault94-5-55.6
02e Sexual assault (not aggravated)1,7721,543-229-12.9
02f Other sexual offences509441-68-13.4
 
03 Attempts or threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences21,77518,893-2,882-13.2
03aMurder-attempt2719-8-29.6
03bMurder-threat1,2541,51325920.7
03c Assault causing harm, poisoning5,0194,139-880-17.5
03d Other assault13,79511,552-2,243-16.3
03e Harassment and related offences1,6801,670-10-0.6
 
04 Dangerous or negligent acts8,6918,717260.3
04a Dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm3922-17-43.6
04b Driving/In charge of a vehicle while over legal alcohol limit6,5675,195-1,372-20.9
04c Driving/In charge of a vehicle under the influence of drugs1,2632,6431,380109.3
04fEndangerment with potential for serious harm or death23233410244.0
04gAbandoning a child, child neglect and cruelty308300-8-2.6
04hUnseaworthy/dangerous use of boat or ship3300.0
04i False alarm/interference with aircraft or air transport facilities32-1-33.3
04j Endangering traffic offences276218-58-21.0
 
05 Kidnapping and related offences12713032.4
05aFalse imprisonment871061921.8
05b Abduction of person under 16 years of age218-13-61.9
05c Human trafficking offences1916-3-15.8
 
06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences2,3431,807-536-22.9
06a Robbery of an establishment or institution636387-249-39.2
06b Robbery of cash or goods in transit3510-25-71.4
06c Robbery from the person1,3681,009-359-26.2
06d Blackmail or extortion1492197047.0
06e Carjacking, hijacking/unlawful seizure of aircraft/vessel1551822717.4
 
07 Burglary and related offences16,74810,938-5,810-34.7
07a Aggravated burglary274293196.9
07bBurglary (not aggravated)16,14010,336-5,804-36.0
07cPossession of an article (with intent to burgle, steal, demand)334309-25-7.5
 
08 Theft and related offences68,15851,474-16,684-24.5
08a Theft/Taking of vehicle and related offences4,7503,781-969-20.4
08b Theft from person4,3061,787-2,519-58.5
08c Theft from shop24,68219,568-5,114-20.7
08d Other thefts, handling stolen property34,42026,338-8,082-23.5
 
09 Fraud, deception and related offences7,9627,818-144-1.8
09aFraud, deception and related offences7,9627,818-144-1.8
 
10 Controlled drug offences21,34823,2851,9379.1
10a Importation of drugs2821-7-25.0
10bCultivation or manufacture of drugs19238018897.9
10c Possession of drugs for sale or supply4,7916,0211,23025.7
10d Possession of drugs for personal use15,62315,9082851.8
10e Other drug offences71495524133.8
 
11 Weapons and explosives offences2,6853,08540014.9
11aExplosives, chemical weapons offences8058-22-27.5
11bDischarging a firearm9687-9-9.4
11cPossession of a firearm2062302411.7
11dOffensive weapons offences (nec)2,0972,42132415.5
11e Fireworks offences2062898340.3
 
12 Damage to property and to the environment21,90819,504-2,404-11.0
12aArson1,5881,386-202-12.7
12bCriminal damage (not arson)20,16517,926-2,239-11.1
12c Litter offences1551923723.9
 
13 Public order and other social code offences32,40028,980-3,420-10.6
13a Disorderly conduct27,96524,449-3,516-12.6
13b Trespass offences2,2712,4441737.6
13c Liquor licensing offences530304-226-42.6
13d Prostitution offences11129-82-73.9
13e Regulated betting or money, collection or trading offences12451-73-58.9
13fOther social code offences (nec)1,3991,70330421.7
 
15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime17,61410,371-7,243-41.1
15aOffences against government and its agents (nec)2492833413.7
15bOrganisation of crime and conspiracy to commit crime121200.0
15c Perverting the course of justice2833517.9
15d Offences while in custody, breach of court orders17,32510,043-7,282-42.0
Source: CSO
1 These statistics are categorised as under reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics does 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 6.3 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 6.2 and 6.3.

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 five-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 6.3 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group and annualised2 total to Q4, 2016 to 2020
 Annualised total to Q4
ICCSq offence group20162017201820192020
01 Homicide and related offences8596856473
02 Sexual offences2,5202,8813,2063,3402,986
03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences16,71918,98820,17621,77518,893
04 Dangerous or negligent acts7,6848,3668,5558,6918,717
05 Kidnapping and related offences123130133127130
06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences 2,1062,1862,4442,3431,807
07 Burglary and related offences18,57319,19816,95516,74810,938
08 Theft and related offences64,46769,26266,91568,15851,474
09 Fraud, deception and related offences4,9335,4166,2957,9627,818
10 Controlled drug offences16,02016,76118,28721,34823,285
11 Weapons and explosives offences2,1352,3792,4432,6853,085
12 Damage to property and to the environment22,17423,13721,52521,90819,504
13 Public order and other social code offences29,21031,18631,96232,40028,980
15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime 12,32413,79016,33317,61410,371
Source: CSO
1 These statistics are categorised as under reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics does 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 label20162017201820192020
02 Sexual offences25202881320633402986
06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences 21062186244423431807
09 Fraud, deception and related offences49335416629579627818
11 Weapons and explosives offences21352379244326853085
X-axis label20162017201820192020
07 Burglary and related offences1857319198169551674810938
08 Theft and related offences6446769262669156815851474
10 Controlled drug offences1602016761182872134823285
12 Damage to property and to the environment2217423137215252190819504

The Garda regional structure changed in 2019. This reduced the number of Garda regions from six to four. The four regions are:

  • Dublin Metropolitan Region
  • North Western Region
  • Eastern Region
  • Southern Region

A breakdown of recorded crime incidents by Garda region for 2019 and 2020, using the new Garda regions, is provided in Table 6.4. 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 6.4 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group, Garda region2 and annualised3 total to Q4 2019 and 2020
Garda region 
ICCSq offence groupDublin Metropolitan North WesternEastern SouthernState
Annualised total to Q4 2019
01 Homicide and related offences23 12121764
02 Sexual offences1,055 7048347473,340
03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences7,434 4,6144,7225,00521,775
04 Dangerous or negligent acts1,974 2,1252,3432,2498,691
05 Kidnapping and related offences40 271941127
06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences 1,592 2202532782,343
07 Burglary and related offences7,719 2,3484,1772,50416,748
08 Theft and related offences36,986 7,43712,61111,12468,158
09 Fraud, deception and related offences3,529 1,3711,6161,4467,962
10 Controlled drug offences8,369 2,8075,8424,33021,348
11 Weapons and explosives offences1,257 4544725022,685
12 Damage to property and to the environment8,861 3,9644,6574,42621,908
13 Public order and other social code offences10,935 7,2616,2327,97232,400
15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime 10,006 2,1312,8012,67617,614
 
Annualised total to Q4 2020
01 Homicide and related offences25 16141873
02 Sexual offences924 6087946602,986
03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences6,606 3,9574,2014,12918,893
04 Dangerous or negligent acts2,431 2,0972,1292,0608,717
05 Kidnapping and related offences49 392220130
06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences 1,263 1322112011,807
07 Burglary and related offences5,162 1,5572,4131,80610,938
08 Theft and related offences27,627 5,8529,2588,73751,474
09 Fraud, deception and related offences3,319 1,4331,6201,4467,818
10 Controlled drug offences9,667 3,4324,9835,20323,285
11 Weapons and explosives offences1,363 5006046183,085
12 Damage to property and to the environment7,838 3,5214,2793,86619,504
13 Public order and other social code offences11,493 5,5195,1856,78328,980
15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime 4,786 1,4101,9392,23610,371
 
Annualised total change to Q4 2020
01 Homicide and related offences2 4219
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 acts457 -28-214-18926
05 Kidnapping and related offences9 123-213
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 6240-144
10 Controlled drug offences1,298 625-8598731,937
11 Weapons and explosives offences106 46132116400
12 Damage to property and to the environment-1,023 -443-378-560-2,404
13 Public order and other social code offences558 -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
Source: CSO
1 These statistics are categorised as under reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics does 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 MetropolitanNorth WesternEastern Southern
02 Sexual offences30.944407233757520.361687876758226.590756865371722.1031480241125
06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences 69.89485334809087.304925290536811.676812396236911.1234089651356
07 Burglary and related offences47.193271164746814.234777838727422.060705796306516.5112452002194
08 Theft and related offences53.671756614990111.368846407895217.985779228348316.9736177487664
10 Controlled drug offences41.515997423233814.739102426454821.400042946102622.3448572042087
12 Damage to property and to the environment40.186628383921218.052707136997521.939089417555419.8215750615258
13 Public order and other social code offences39.658385093167719.044168391994517.891649413388523.4057971014493

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