crime and safety · the national record
Domestic abuse across the UK
An estimated 3.8 million people aged 16 and over in England and Wales, 7.8 per cent, experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2025: 2.2 million women and 1.5 million men. The police recorded 816,493 domestic abuse related crimes in England and Wales, alongside separate totals for Scotland and Northern Ireland that cannot be added together with the England and Wales figures or with each other. This page sets the survey estimate against what police record, shows where recorded rates are highest, and what happens after a crime is reported.
How to read this
Three different things are measured here and none of them should be summed. The survey estimate comes from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which asks a sample of people directly about their experience and is not available for Scotland or Northern Ireland in the same form. Police recorded incidents and crimes are counted separately by three different police systems in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, using different legal definitions and counting rules, so the three national totals are shown side by side and never added into a UK figure. The Office for National Statistics states plainly that changes in police recorded domestic abuse partly reflect changes in police recording practices rather than a change in how much abuse is happening, and that police recorded crime data do not provide a measure of domestic abuse prevalence. Survey prevalence and police recorded crime measure different things and can move in different directions.
Support
If you are affected by anything on this page, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline offers free, confidential support and advice, 24 hours a day, on 0808 2000 247. It is run by Refuge and covers England and Wales. Readers in Scotland and Northern Ireland can find national support routes through gov.scot and nidirect.gov.uk.
England and Wales: ONS Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview, November 2025, and the ONS domestic abuse prevalence, data tool and criminal justice system appendix tables, year ending March 2025. Scotland: Scottish Government, Domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland, 2024 to 2025. Northern Ireland: PSNI Statistics Branch and NISRA, Trends in Domestic Abuse Incidents and Crimes, 2004/05 to 2024/25.
The survey estimate
Who experiences domestic abuse, England and Wales
The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that 7.8 per cent of people aged 16 and over, about 3,786,000, experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2025. Women were substantially more likely to report it, 9.1 per cent against 6.5 per cent of men, though the numbers show men make up a significant minority of victims too. New survey questions were introduced from year ending March 2024, so these estimates cannot be compared with figures from before that year.
Crime Survey for England and Wales, year ending March 2025, adults aged 16 and over. Not available in the same form for Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Three systems, not one UK total
Police recorded incidents and crimes, by nation
England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each run their own police recording system with its own legal definition of domestic abuse and its own counting rules. The figures below are shown side by side for the most recent year available in each nation and must not be added together, either across nations or between the incidents and crimes columns for the same nation.
England and Wales
Year ending March 2025
ONS, Home Office police recorded crime data
Scotland
2024 to 2025
Scottish Government, Police Scotland recorded statistics
Northern Ireland
2024 to 2025
PSNI Statistics Branch / NISRA
Incidents include reports that did not amount to a recordable crime. Crimes are the subset that met the legal threshold to be recorded as an offence. Rates are per 1,000 population using each publisher's own population base.
Where recorded rates are highest
Domestic abuse related crime rates by police force, England and Wales
Set against resident population, West Yorkshire recorded the highest rate of domestic abuse related crime in the year ending March 2025, at 21.4 per 1,000 residents, against an England and Wales average of 13.2. Surrey recorded the lowest. Rates reflect real differences in reported and recorded abuse but also differences in how consistently each force applies the domestic abuse flag, so they are not a clean measure of local risk.
Highest rates (per 1,000 residents)
Lowest rates (per 1,000 residents)
43 territorial forces in total. British Transport Police is excluded, it has no comparable resident population.
After a crime is reported
Charges, prosecutions and convictions
Just 7.3 per cent of domestic abuse related crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales resulted in a charge or summons in the year ending March 2025. The single largest outcome, at 56.1 per cent, was cases closed because of evidential difficulties where the victim did not support further action, a pattern that is well documented in domestic abuse cases specifically. Separately, the Crown Prosecution Service completed 54,987 domestic abuse related prosecutions in the year, up 7.4 per cent on the year before, of which 41,070 resulted in a conviction, a conviction rate of 74.7 per cent.
Prosecutions and convictions, 11 years
England and Wales, Crown Prosecution Service data. Year ending March 2024/25: 54,987 prosecutions (+7.4% on the year before), 41,070 convictions (74.7% of prosecutions).
Highest charge or summons rate
Lowest charge or summons rate
England and Wales average: 7.3 per cent. Home Office data by police force area. 8 of 44 forces are not shown because of data quality issues flagged by the Home Office.
Questions this raises
For policing, courts and services
- 1.
The survey estimate and the police recorded total move for different reasons. When recorded crime rises, how much is more abuse and how much is recording practice and more people coming forward?
- 2.
Just 7.3 per cent of recorded domestic abuse crimes end in a charge, and most closures happen because the victim does not support further action. What would it take to change that pattern without pressuring victims?
- 3.
England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland cannot be compared directly because they measure abuse differently. Would a shared UK wide definition change what the numbers show, or just how they are counted?
- 4.
Recorded rates vary widely by police force. How much of that gap is real difference in abuse, and how much is how consistently each force applies the domestic abuse flag?
Related analysis
Sources & method
Data provenance
- Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview, November 2025 (ONS) ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
- Domestic abuse prevalence and victim characteristics, appendix tables, year ending March 2025 (ONS) ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
- Domestic abuse in England and Wales data tool, year ending March 2025 (ONS) ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
- Domestic abuse and the criminal justice system, appendix tables, November 2025 (ONS) ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
- Domestic abuse: statistics recorded by the police in Scotland, 2024 to 2025 (Scottish Government) ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
- Trends in Domestic Abuse Incidents and Crimes Recorded by the Police in Northern Ireland, 2004/05 to 2024/25 (PSNI / NISRA) ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
- Domestic abuse: how to get help (GOV.UK) ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
Caveats & data notes
- Police recorded crime data do not provide a measure of domestic abuse prevalence. Changes in police recorded domestic abuse partly reflect changes in police recording practices, not only changes in how much abuse is happening. This is stated explicitly by the ONS.
- Survey prevalence and police recorded crime measure different things. The Crime Survey for England and Wales asks people directly about their experience; police figures count only what is reported and recorded. The two can move in different directions in the same year.
- New CSEW questions were introduced from the year ending March 2024, so survey prevalence for that year onwards cannot be compared with earlier years that used the previous question set.
- England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate police recording systems with different legal definitions and counting rules. Their totals are shown side by side and must not be summed into a UK figure, and incidents and crimes must not be summed within a nation.
- Charge or summons outcome data by police force area were not available for 8 of the 44 England and Wales police force areas because of data quality issues flagged by the Home Office, so those forces are excluded from the best and worst lists.
- British Transport Police is excluded from the England and Wales force rate tables because it has no comparable resident population to calculate a per capita rate against.
- Prosecution and conviction figures are Crown Prosecution Service data and cover a different cohort of cases to police recorded crime figures, with a time lag between a crime being recorded and a case reaching a CPS decision, so the two should not be read as a single "solve rate" for a given year.
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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