Robbery, harassment and fraud are among the offences that rose in England and Wales in the year to March 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics. The broader Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated 9.6 million incidents overall, which reveals no major statistical change from the previous year. However, as some crimes fell, others rose.
Police recorded 87,362 robberies, up 10 per cent. That rise came from business robberies, which increased 91 per cent to 29,669. The ONS says this was mainly because police were told to record shop thefts involving violence or threats as robbery from April 2025. Robberies of personal property fell by 9 per cent.
Recorded rape rose 4 per cent to 74,727. Violence without injury edged up 2 per cent, while violence with injury fell 3 per cent. The ONS cautions that police figures for these offences are not a reliable guide to trends, as they can be affected by changes in recording and by more victims coming forward.
Harassment rose 6 per cent in police records, but the ONS says those figures are not a good indicator of trends. Its survey found a statistically significant rise in repeated harassment: from 2.3 per cent to 3.5 per cent of adults aged 16 and over, or about 1.7 million people. The estimates are interim.
The survey also found that the number of adult fraud victims rose 10 per cent to 3.8 million. Bank and credit account fraud incidents increased 15 per cent to about 2.8 million. Total fraud incidents reached 4.5 million, with no statistically significant change.