UK Knife Crime Statistics 2026
UK Knife Crime Statistics 2026: Trends, Regional Data & Workplace Violence
Last updated: 5 June 2026 | Data sources: ONS, NHS England, HSE, Home Office, MOPAC
Statistics
UK police recorded 49,151 knife-enabled offences in the year ending December 2025, a 10% decrease year-on-year. Knife-related homicides fell 21% to 172. Overall homicides dropped to 503, the lowest since 1983. Frontline workers — particularly security staff — face workplace violence rates six times the national average.
Executive Summary
The 2025 figures mark the steepest year-on-year decline in knife crime outside a pandemic year. The 49,151 offences recorded in the year to December 2025 is comparable to the 49,190 recorded in 2022 — meaning the post-pandemic surge has now fully reversed. Knife-related homicides fell 21% (from 217 to 172), the lowest annual number since the current ONS knife-homicide data series began in 1977. Overall homicides dropped to 503, the lowest figure since 1983, according to the ONS. [ONS, April 2026]
Despite this progress, knife crime remains nearly double the level of a decade ago (~25,000 in 2015), and the national decline masks an uneven picture: 15 of 44 police forces recorded increases. Frontline workers continue to face disproportionate risk — HSE data shows protective service occupations experience workplace violence at six times the national average. The sections below break down the data by region, demographic group, and occupation, with all figures drawn from published ONS, NHS, HSE, and Home Office sources. This page compiles and presents official statistics; it does not constitute original statistical analysis.
About the data: This page draws on published statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), NHS England, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), the Home Office, the Security Industry Authority (SIA), and peer-reviewed academic research. All sources are listed at the foot of the page. In text, knife-enabled offences means any crime recorded by police that involved a knife or sharp instrument — including possession, threats, robbery, and assault, not exclusively stabbings.
Contents
- National Trends
- Knife Crime as a Proportion of Total Crime
- Regional Breakdown: Which UK Police Forces Saw the Biggest Changes in 2025?
- London Knife Crime: A Closer Look at the 2025 Improvement
- Demographics: Who Is Affected?
- Hospital Admissions (NHS Data)
- Workplace Violence: The Risk to Frontline Workers
- Security Industry Context
- Government Response
- Key Takeaways
- Frequently Asked Questions
National Trends
Current Picture (Year Ending December 2025)
| Metric | Figure | Year-on-year change |
|---|---|---|
| Total knife-enabled offences | 49,151 | ↓ 10% (from 54,548) |
| Knife-related homicides | 172 | ↓ 21% (from 217) |
| Homicides (all methods) | 503 | ↓ 6% (from 534) |
| Police forces recording a decrease | 29 of 44 | — |
Source: ONS, quarterly crime bulletin, April 2026.
Ten-Year Trend: Knife-Enabled Offences (England & Wales)
The table below presents annual knife-enabled offences recorded by police in England and Wales from 2015 to 2025.
| Year (period ending) | Offences | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 (Mar) | ~25,000 | Near historical low for decade |
| 2016 (Mar) | ~28,000 | Rising |
| 2017 (Mar) | ~32,000 | Rising |
| 2018 (Mar) | ~37,000 | Rising |
| 2019 (Mar) | ~43,000 | Rising sharply |
| 2020 (Mar) | ~47,000 | Pre-pandemic peak |
| 2021 (Mar) | 44,728 | Pandemic lockdown effect |
| 2022 (Mar) | 49,190 | Rebound |
| 2023 (Mar) | ~51,000 | Rebound |
| 2024 (Mar) | ~54,500 | Post-pandemic peak |
| 2025 (Sep) | 50,430 | Year to Sep 2025 |
| 2025 (Dec) | 49,151 | Year to Dec 2025 |
Figures for 2015–2020 and 2022–2023 from Home Office police recorded crime data tables and ONS FOI releases. Figures for 2021, 2024, and 2025 from ONS crime bulletins. ~ denotes rounded values where the exact annual total was not published in a single headline figure; all are accurate to within 500 offences. Pre-2021 figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000 per Home Office published bulletins.
Key Observations
The 2025 decline is the steepest year-on-year drop since 2020/21, when pandemic lockdowns suppressed all categories of recorded crime. The 2025 reduction occurred without lockdown conditions, indicating an underlying decrease rather than a temporary disruption effect.
The 49,151 offences recorded in the year to December 2025 is comparable to the 49,190 recorded in 2022, indicating the post-pandemic increase has been fully reversed.
Knife Crime as a Proportion of Total Crime
Knife-enabled offences consistently account for 0.6% to 0.8% of all police-recorded crime in England and Wales. This proportion has remained stable over the past decade, even as absolute numbers have risen substantially. The near-doubling of knife offences since 2015 (from ~25,000 to ~49,000) has been matched by a comparable increase in total recorded crime (from ~4.2 million to ~6.6 million), driven in significant part by improved police recording practices rather than a genuine increase across all crime types, according to ONS guidance.
Note on reporting periods: The table below uses the financial year (year ending March) to align with how the ONS and Home Office publish total recorded crime totals. This differs from the year ending December used for the headline 49,151 figure elsewhere on this page. The two most recent periods shown are therefore YE March 2025 (53,047 knife offences) and YE December 2025 (49,151). They represent overlapping but different 12-month windows and are not contradictory.
Annual Comparison (Financial Year, YE March)
| Year (YE Mar) | Knife-Enabled Offences | Total Police-Recorded Crime | Knife as % of Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | ~25,000 | ~4.2 million | 0.60% |
| 2016 | ~28,000 | ~4.5 million | 0.62% |
| 2017 | ~32,000 | ~5.0 million | 0.64% |
| 2018 | ~37,000 | ~5.5 million | 0.67% |
| 2019 | ~43,000 | ~5.8 million | 0.74% |
| 2020 | ~47,000 | ~6.1 million | 0.77% |
| 2021 | 44,728 | ~5.4 million | 0.83% |
| 2022 | 49,190 | ~6.3 million | 0.78% |
| 2023 | ~51,000 | ~6.6 million | 0.77% |
| 2024 | ~54,500 | ~6.7 million | 0.81% |
| 2025 | 53,047 | ~6.6 million | 0.80% |
Sources: Knife offence figures from Home Office police recorded crime data tables and ONS crime bulletins; total crime figures from ONS Crime in England and Wales bulletins and Ministry of Justice Justice in Numbers summary tables. ~ denotes rounded values (see methodology note in National Trends section above). Total crime figures for 2015–2020 are rounded to the nearest 100,000.
Context
- Violence against the person (~1.9 million offences in 2024/25), the category that includes knife crime, outnumbers knife offences by approximately 35:1.
- The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), which captures unreported and unrecorded crime, estimated 9.4 million total incidents in 2024/25. Against this broader measure, knife-enabled offences represent approximately 0.5% of all crime.
- Knife crime's policy significance is disproportionate to its share of total offence volume because it accounts for roughly a third of all homicides and carries a high injury severity profile relative to other offence categories.
- The ONS advises that police-recorded crime figures are influenced by changes in police activity and recording practices and "do not tend to be a good indicator of general trends in crime." The percentage figures above should be interpreted with this caveat — both the numerator and denominator are affected by recording practice changes over time.
Regional Breakdown: Which UK Police Forces Saw the Biggest Changes in 2025?
Knife crime is not evenly distributed. London accounts for more than a quarter of all knife offences in England and Wales.
Three Police Forces with the Highest Knife Crime Volume
| Police force | 2025 offences | 2024 offences | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Police | 13,994 | 16,785 | ↓ 16.6% |
| West Midlands | 3,946 | 4,642 | ↓ 15.0% |
| Greater Manchester | 2,890 | 3,476 | ↓ 16.9% |
Source: ONS police force area tables, year ending September 2025. These three forces collectively accounted for 41% of all knife offences nationally.
Forces With the Biggest Increases
Not every area improved. 15 of 44 forces recorded increases.
| Police force | 2025 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Yorkshire | 330 | 262 | ↑ 26.0% |
| Suffolk | 338 | 292 | ↑ 15.8% |
| Derbyshire | 746 | 654 | ↑ 14.1% |
| Warwickshire | 331 | 298 | ↑ 11.1% |
| Dyfed-Powys | 183 | 166 | ↑ 10.2% |
Source: ONS police force area tables.
Knife Crime Rate per 100,000 Population
- Highest: Metropolitan Police — 182 per 100,000
- Lowest: Cumbria — 31 per 100,000
Source: House of Commons Library briefing SN04304, based on ONS data.
London Knife Crime: A Closer Look at the 2025 Improvement
London recorded substantial reductions in 2025. This is significant because the capital accounts for more than a quarter of all knife offences nationally.
| Metric | Figure | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Homicides (Jan–Sep 2025) | 70 | Lowest since MOPAC monthly homicide records began (2003) |
| Full-year 2025 homicides | 97 | ↓ 11% (from 109 in 2024) |
| Knife crime offences (12m to Aug 2025) | 13,423 | 1,154 fewer than the previous 12 months (↓ 7%) |
| Teenage homicides — London only (13–19, calendar yr to Jun 2025) | 3 | Down from 18 in 2021 |
| Under-25 hospital admissions for knife assault | — | ↓ 10% |
Sources: Jan–Sep 2025 homicide figures (70) from MOPAC, October 2025; full-year 2025 homicides (97) and teenage homicide figures from MOPAC, January 2026; knife crime offences (12m to Aug 2025) and hospital admissions data from Metropolitan Police presentation to London Policing Board, July 2025. London's homicide rate remains lower than Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Madrid, and New York.
Demographics: Who Is Affected?
Age
Knife crime disproportionately affects young people, though the age profile has shifted in recent years.
- Teenage homicides (13–19) fell 48% to 34 victims in the year to March 2025, with knife-related teen homicides dropping 59% (source: ONS, reported by LBC, January 2026).
- Under-25s account for the largest share of hospital admissions for knife assault, though this category saw a 10% reduction in London in the 12 months to June 2025 (source: MOPAC).
- Children aged 10–17 remain a concern: knife offences involving this age group peaked in 2023/24 and remain above pre-pandemic levels. [Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Statistics 2023/24, published January 2025]
Gender
- 90% of hospital admissions for assault by sharp object are male (source: NHS England, 2024/25 data).
- Men are both the majority of victims and the overwhelming majority of perpetrators in knife homicide cases.
Ethnicity
ONS data on knife crime by ethnicity shows disparities that are substantially confounded by age, geography, and socioeconomic deprivation. Black victims are overrepresented in knife-enabled homicide statistics relative to population share, though this pattern diminishes when controlling for age structure and area-level deprivation. White victims constitute the largest absolute number of knife crime victims, reflecting the overall population distribution. The ONS publishes detailed knife-crime-by-ethnicity data via FOI releases; the most recent available covers 2020–2025, and the analysis above should be verified against the latest release. As with all knife crime data, caution is warranted: police recording practices and victim reporting rates may vary across groups.
Hospital Admissions (NHS Data)
NHS hospital data provides an independent check on police-recorded crime figures, since not all knife assaults result in a police report.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Hospital admissions for assault by sharp object (2024/25) | 3,494 |
| Trend (5-year) | Decreasing year-on-year since 2021/22 peak |
| Male patients | approx. 90% |
| Patients aged 18 and under | approx. 16% |
Source: NHS England, reported in ONS crime bulletin and Mortons Solicitors analysis. Admissions are at their lowest point in a decade. [NHS England, 2024/25 Hospital Episode Statistics]
The NHS data corroborates the police-recorded crime trend: knife violence, measured by serious injury requiring hospitalisation, is down.
Workplace Violence: The Risk to Frontline Workers
The following section presents HSE workplace violence data relevant to security professionals, lone workers, and those considering personal protective equipment.
HSE Official Statistics (2024/25)
The Health and Safety Executive published its annual Violence at Work report on 20 November 2025.
| Metric | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Total incidents of violence at work | 689,000 (up from 642,000) |
| Assaults | 370,000 |
| Threats | 319,000 |
| RIDDOR-reported injuries from violence | 5,900 cases (10% of all RIDDOR reports) |
| LFS-estimated non-fatal injuries | ~61,000 workers annually |
Source: HSE, Violence at Work 2024/25, November 2025. CSEW (Crime Survey for England and Wales). The 689,000 figure represents the highest level since HSE began publishing this data series.
Highest-Risk UK Occupations for Workplace Violence (2023/24–2024/25)
| Occupation | Violence rate | Relative to average |
|---|---|---|
| Protective service occupations (security, police, fire) | 6.8% | 6× the average |
| Health & social care | 2.7% | 2.3× |
| Transport/mobile drivers | 2.4% | 2× |
| Sales and customer service | 2.2% | 1.8× |
| All occupations average | 1.2% | — |
Source: HSE, based on CSEW data, 2023/24–2024/25 combined.
Security staff, prison officers, and police have the highest occupational risk of violence in the UK — 6 times the national average. [HSE, November 2025]
Retail and Customer-Facing Staff
- British Retail Consortium (2025) reported 2,000+ incidents of violence and abuse per day against retail staff, a 50%+ increase year-on-year. Incidents involving a weapon reached 70 per day (25,000+ annually), up 180% from ~25 per day the previous year. [BRC, Retail Crime Survey 2025]
- USDAW (the retail workers' union) survey (~10,000 retail staff): 77% experienced verbal abuse, 10% were physically assaulted. [USDAW, 2025]
- Suzy Lamplugh Trust (September 2025): 31% of frontline workers experienced at least one violent incident in the past 12 months. Of those who experienced an incident, 32% did not report it. Fewer than 1 in 5 saw any meaningful action taken. [Suzy Lamplugh Trust / YouGov, September 2025]
Joint Study: City St George's, University of London & University of Manchester (2025)
A joint study by City St George's, University of London and the University of Manchester found that 1 in 12 UK workers experienced threats, insults, or attacks in the workplace in the past year. The mental health consequences — anxiety, depression, PTSD symptoms — persisted a year or more after a single incident. Published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. [Gash & Blom, 2025, DOI:10.5271/sjweh.4230]
Security Industry Context
The private security industry in the UK has grown substantially:
- 497,000+ active SIA licence holders as of December 2024 — a 57% increase from ~317,000 in 2017 (source: Security Industry Authority).
- This growth means more professionals are working in environments with elevated risk of confrontation, including door supervision, retail security, healthcare, transport hubs, and local authority operations.
- Even at reduced 2025 figures, knife crime remains roughly double the level of a decade ago, meaning the absolute likelihood of encountering an edged-weapon threat is higher than it was in 2015 for anyone in a public-facing protective role.
Prison Service
Following a serious attack at HMP Frankland (April 2025), the Ministry of Justice committed £15 million toward a target of 10,000 stab-proof vests (expanding from 750). As of March 2026, 778 sets (514 named staff plus 264 spare sets) had been issued across 13 high-security prisons (Belmarsh, Frankland, Full Sutton, Wakefield, Whitemoor, Woodhill, Manchester, and others). This was accompanied by a rollout of 500 Tasers (up from 20 in an initial trial).
Source: UK Parliament written answer, 26 March 2026; The Independent, The Standard, Birmingham Mail.
Government Response
The Labour government, elected in 2024, pledged to halve knife crime within a decade. Key measures introduced or expanded:
- Ronan's Law (Crime and Policing Bill, 2025–2026; provisions commenced from early 2026): two-step age verification for online knife sales (at purchase and at delivery), personal liability for senior managers of platforms that fail to remove illegal knife listings, and a new National Knife Crime Centre (£1.75 million) to enforce online sale restrictions. A mandatory licensing scheme for all knife sellers, proposed under the same legislation, is under consultation with full implementation expected by 2027.
- £15 million for prison officer stab-proof vests and Tasers.
- Serious Violence Duty: statutory multi-agency partnerships between police, local authorities, health, and education.
- Knife Crime Prevention Orders: civil orders restricting behaviour of individuals at risk of involvement.
Source: Home Office, UK Parliament written answers, BBC News.
Key Takeaways
Summary of key findings:
- Knife crime is declining but remains historically elevated. The 49,151 offences recorded in 2025 is nearly double the ~25,000 recorded in 2015.
- Frontline workers bear disproportionate risk. Protective service occupations face violence rates six times the national average. Security, retail, health, and transport roles that involve interaction with the public carry elevated risk of workplace violence.
- Lone workers are especially vulnerable. The HSE defines lone workers as those who work without close supervision, including security staff on solo patrols, delivery drivers, and community workers. These roles lack the deterrent effect of a colleague's presence.
- Improvements are uneven across the country. London recorded a 16.6% reduction, but 15 of 44 police forces recorded increases in knife offences.
- Non-fatal violence carries significant cost. The HSE recorded 689,000 workplace violence incidents in 2024/25. Academic research documents mental health consequences — including anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms — persisting a year or more after a single incident.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many knife crimes were recorded in the UK in 2025?
Police recorded 49,151 knife-enabled offences in England and Wales in the year ending December 2025, a 10% drop from the previous year. [ONS, April 2026]
What percentage of UK crime involves a knife?
Knife-enabled offences account for 0.6% to 0.8% of all police-recorded crime in England and Wales. In 2024/25, 53,047 knife offences were recorded against approximately 6.6 million total offences, or 0.80%. Against the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimate of 9.4 million total incidents (which includes unreported crime), the proportion is approximately 0.5%. While the absolute number of knife offences has nearly doubled since 2015, the proportion of total crime has remained stable because total recorded crime has also increased substantially over the same period, driven in part by improved police recording practices. [ONS, 2025]
Is UK knife crime rising or falling?
Falling. 29 of 44 police forces recorded a decrease in 2025. Knife-related homicides fell 21% to 172, and overall homicides dropped to their lowest level since 1983, according to the ONS. [ONS, April 2026]
Which UK city has the highest knife crime rate?
London (Metropolitan Police area) records 182 knife offences per 100,000 people — the highest rate in England and Wales. However, London also saw one of the steepest improvements in 2025, with knife crime down 16.6% year-on-year.
Which workers face the highest risk of workplace violence in the UK?
Protective service occupations — security guards, police officers, and prison staff — face a violence rate of 6.8%, which is six times the national average of 1.2%. [HSE, November 2025]
How many SIA-licensed security officers are there in the UK?
There are 497,000+ active SIA licence holders as of December 2024, a 57% increase from ~317,000 in 2017. [Security Industry Authority]
About This Page
This page is maintained by ArmorLite, a UK maker and retailer of body armour that has passed NIJ 0115.00 and EN388:2016 testing. We compile official UK government statistics on knife crime and workplace violence to provide an accurate, regularly updated reference that journalists, researchers, security professionals, and members of the public can rely on.
Author: Harry Huang, ArmorLite Material Engineer (15+ years industrial experience in protective textiles and body armour certification). Every figure on this page is drawn from a published government or academic source, listed below. If you identify an error or outdated figure, please email customer@armorliteshop.com with the subject line "Stats Page Correction" and include a link to the authoritative source.
Methodology: Data is collated from ONS quarterly crime bulletins, HSE annual violence-at-work reports, NHS Hospital Episode Statistics, Home Office and MOPAC publications, SIA licence-holder data, and peer-reviewed academic research. We update this page within two weeks of each major ONS quarterly bulletin. Where exact annual totals were not published in a single headline figure, values are marked with ~ and rounded to the nearest 1,000. Where a source reports an approximate proportion rather than an exact percentage, values are marked "approx."
Sources
- ONS, Crime in England and Wales: quarterly bulletins, 2025–2026 (year ending September 2025, published January 2026; year ending December 2025, published April 2026)
- ONS, Knife crime statistics FOI releases, ons.gov.uk
- House of Commons Library, Knife Crime Statistics England and Wales, briefing SN04304
- HSE, Violence at Work 2024/25, published November 2025
- NHS England, Hospital Episode Statistics, 2024/25
- MOPAC, London Homicide Data, October 2025 (Jan–Sep data) and January 2026 (full-year 2025 data)
- Metropolitan Police, Presentation to London Policing Board, July 2025
- Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Statistics 2023/24, published January 2025
- Security Industry Authority, Licence Holder Statistics, December 2024
- UK Parliament, Written Answer: Prison Officers Protective Clothing, March 2026
- Gash, V. & Blom, N. (2025), Workplace Violence and Fear of Violence, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, DOI:10.5271/sjweh.4230
- Suzy Lamplugh Trust / YouGov, Frontline Worker Safety Survey, September 2025
- British Retail Consortium, Retail Crime Survey 2025
- USDAW, Retail Worker Safety Survey, 2025