Victims of crime

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1. Main facts and figures

  • 15% of the total adult population in England and Wales were victims of at least one crime in 2015/16 – a fall from 17% in 2013/14

  • in 2015/16, a higher proportion of the Mixed, Asian and Black adult populations were victims of crime than the White adult population

Things you need to know

These figures are based on the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW).

There are some high harm but relatively lower-volume offences, such as homicide and sexual offences, which are not included in its main estimates.

Since October 2015, the survey has included fraud and computer misuse. However, as data from before this point is not available, the statistics and commentary presented here exclude fraud and computer misuse offences.

Estimates based on a larger number of respondents are generally more reliable. Therefore, the smaller numbers of respondents from ethnic minority backgrounds mean that estimates for these groups are less reliable than estimates for White people.

Estimates based on fewer than 50 responses are excluded, as they are considered less reliable.

In some instances, 3 years' worth of CSEW data have been combined. This is because the number of people surveyed in a single year becomes too small to produce reliable estimates for the population as a whole when broken down both by ethnicity (in either detailed or broad categories) and by another factor like age, socio-economic group or sex.

Grouping years increases the number of respondents, increasing the reliability of the estimates.

Because CSEW is a sample survey, estimates based on it have a margin of error. Users should consider this when interpreting the data.

What the data measures

This data measures the proportion of the population who reported being victims of an offence one or more times over the reference period (the 12 months prior to interview). This is known as the prevalence rate.

Prevalence rates measure whether a household or person was a victim of at least one crime in the reference period. They do not measure the specific number of times a household or person was a victim.

These figures are based on information from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), for which respondents and their households are designated either as victims or non-victims. The proportion of victims provides the prevalence rate, often described as the risk of being a victim of crime.

The ethnic categories used in this data

Where possible, this data includes the 18 ethnic categories listed in the 2011 Census:

White:

  • English/ Welsh/ Scottish/ Northern Irish/ British
  • Irish
  • Gypsy, Traveller or Irish Traveller
  • Any other White background

Mixed/ Multiple ethnic groups:

  • White and Black Caribbean
  • White and Black African
  • White and Asian
  • Any other Mixed/ Multiple ethnic background

Asian/ Asian British:

  • Indian
  • Pakistani
  • Bangladeshi
  • Chinese
  • Any other Asian background

Black/ African/ Caribbean/ Black British:

  • African
  • Caribbean
  • Any other Black/ African/ Caribbean background

Other ethnic group:

  • Arab
  • Any other ethnic group

However, in cases where the number of people surveyed (the ‘sample size’) was too small to draw any firm conclusions, the CSEW breaks the data down into the following broader categories.

Either 5 ethnic categories:

  • White
  • Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups
  • Asian/Asian British
  • Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
  • Other ethnic group

Or 2 ethnic categories:

White and Other, that is, White ethnic groups (including White British and White ethnic minorities) compared with all other ethnic minorities

2. Victims of crime by ethnicity

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
2013/14 to 2015/16
Source:
Crime Survey for England and Wales, year ending March 2017
Percentage and number of adults who were victims of crime by ethnicity
2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
Ethnicity 2013/14 % 2013/14 Number 2014/15 % 2014/15 Number 2015/16 % 2015/16 Number
All 17 35,371 16 33,350 15 35,324
Asian 19 1,824 16 1,649 18 1,790
Bangladeshi 17 138 12 123 15 135
Chinese 15 169 11 136 16 173
Indian 20 767 14 679 18 722
Pakistani 20 398 22 388 23 428
Asian other 15 352 14 323 15 332
Black 17 959 18 902 19 902
Black African 16 564 19 529 19 530
Black Caribbean 17 350 15 316 16 311
Black other withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 45 28 57 31 61
Mixed 27 339 28 309 21 364
Mixed White/Asian 24 80 28 90 16 94
Mixed White/Black African withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 46 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 45 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 44
Mixed White/Black Caribbean 29 120 29 98 21 135
Mixed other 29 93 23 76 26 91
White 17 31,980 16 30,212 15 31,967
White British 17 30,073 16 28,476 15 29,993
White Irish 21 322 17 299 17 287
White Gypsy/Traveller withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 12 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 10 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 15
White other 17 1,573 19 1,427 16 1,672
Other 14 236 15 234 17 242
Arab 10 88 10 83 10 87
Any other 16 148 17 151 21 155

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data for ‘Victims of crime by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Victims of crime by ethnicity’ (CSV)

Summary of Victims of crime Victims of crime by ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

  • between 2013/14 and 2015/16, the proportion of White adults experiencing at least one crime fell from 17% to 15%. This was the only ethnic group to see any significant change in levels of crime

  • although the graph shows a reduction in the proportion of Mixed ethnic group and an increase in the proportion of Other ethnic group adults who were victims of crime, sample sizes for these groups are small, so any generalisations based on these results are very unreliable

3. Victims of crime by ethnicity and gender

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
2013/14 to 2015/16 (3 years combined)
Source:
Crime Survey for England and Wales, year ending March 2017
Percentage and number of adults who were victims of crime by ethnicity and gender
All Male Female
Ethnicity All % All Number Male % Male Number Female % Female Number
Asian 18 5,263 18 2,603 17 2,660
Black 18 2,763 18 1,157 18 1,606
Mixed 25 1,012 24 417 27 595
White 16 94,159 16 42,656 15 51,503
Other 15 712 16 371 14 341

Download table data for ‘Victims of crime by ethnicity and gender’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Victims of crime by ethnicity and gender’ (CSV)

Summary of Victims of crime Victims of crime by ethnicity and gender Summary

This data shows that:

  • when the figures for the last 3 years are combined, the White population was the only ethnic group to see a clear difference between men and women; here, more men than women were more likely to experience being victims of crime.

  • sample sizes are too small to draw firm conclusions for the remaining ethnic groups.

4. Victims of crime by ethnicity and age

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
2013/14 to 2015/16 (3 years combined)
Source:
Crime Survey for England and Wales, year ending March 2017
Percentage and number of adults who were victims of crime by ethnicity and age
Asian Black Mixed White Other
Age group Asian % Asian Number Black % Black Number Mixed % Mixed Number White % White Number Other % Other Number
16-24 19 570 23 282 29 209 23 6,553 11 89
25-34 19 1,373 19 540 30 256 21 12,676 14 179
35-44 17 1,465 17 724 23 226 19 14,194 21 195
45-54 18 801 19 625 25 160 17 16,140 17 112
55-64 14 547 14 285 12 71 13 15,720 17 65
65-74 14 360 8 165 4 62 9 15,889 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 43
75+ 13 147 7 142 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 28 6 12,987 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 29

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data for ‘Victims of crime by ethnicity and age’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Victims of crime by ethnicity and age’ (CSV)

Summary of Victims of crime Victims of crime by ethnicity and age Summary

When the figures for the last 3 years are combined:

  • on average, across all ethnic groups in the England and Wales, younger people were more likely to experience crime than older people

  • for the White, Black and Mixed ethnic groups, experience of crime went down as age increased

  • White and Mixed ethnic group young people aged 16 to 24 were more likely to experience crime than the same age group in the Asian and Other ethnic groups

  • in the 25 to 34 age group, there was a clear difference between Mixed ethnic group adults and all other ethnic groups in the same age group, with a greater proportion of the former being victims of crime

  • no other reliable (or ‘statistically significant’) differences between ethnic groups or age groups were observed

5. Victims of crime by ethnicity and socio-economic group

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
2013/14 to 2015/16 (3 years combined)
Source:
Crime Survey for England and Wales, year ending March 2017
Percentage and number of adults who were victims of crime by ethnicity and socio-economic status
Asian Black Mixed White Other
Socio-economic classification Asian % Asian Number Black % Black Number Mixed % Mixed Number White % White Number Other % Other Number
Managerial and professional occupations 20 1,653 20 806 32 339 16 32,267 22 196
Intermediate occupations 19 1,076 18 470 21 199 15 22,321 15 125
Routine and manual occupations 16 1,467 17 1,004 22 311 15 33,752 16 177
Never worked and long-term unemployed 13 602 12 235 18 57 18 2,848 16 106
Full time students 18 423 21 223 25 101 22 2,463 7 106
Not classified withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 42 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 25 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 5 14 508 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 2

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data for ‘Victims of crime by ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Victims of crime by ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV)

Summary of Victims of crime Victims of crime by ethnicity and socio-economic group Summary

When the figures for the last 3 years are combined, this data shows that:

  • in the Asian, Black and Mixed adult populations, a higher proportion of people in managerial or professional jobs experienced crime compared to people of the same ethnicity in long-term unemployment

  • in the White population, more adults in long-term unemployment experienced crime than did adults in managerial and professional jobs

  • there was no clear difference in the degree to which ethnic groups within the full-time student population experienced crime, apart from in the Other ethnic group category, where a smaller proportion of people had experienced crime

6. Methodology

The data is all drawn from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), which is a continuous survey, and broken down by ethnic group, as reported by survey respondents.

CSEW estimates are based on analysis of structured face-to-face interviews carried out using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). Data are weighted and two stages are used in the weighting of the CSEW sample. In 2015/16, the response rate was 72%.

The CSEW is a household sample survey and, as such, estimates are based on a representative sample of the population of England and Wales aged 16 and over. A sample, as used in the CSEW, is a small-scale representation of the population from which it is drawn.

The CSEW collects information from approximately 35,000 households each year. Since those responses reflect only a fraction of the total population of England and Wales, a procedure is used to give different weights to different households and individuals based on their sex, age and regional composition in such a way that the weighted distribution of responding household and individuals in these households matches the known distribution in the population as a whole.

First, weights are applied to the raw data to compensate for unequal address selection probabilities (given some areas are more populated than others), to compensate for the observed variation in response rates between different types of neighbourhood, to compensate for situations in which only one dwelling unit can be selected in multiple ‘dwelling unit' households, and to account for different probabilities of a respondent being selected based on different sized households.

Second, calibration weighting is used to make adjustments for known differentials in response rates between different regions and between different age by six sub-groups.

Suppression rules and disclosure control

Estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales have National Statistics status. National Statistics are a subset of official statistics which have been certified by the UK Statistics Authority as compliant with its Code of Practice for Official Statistics, including requirements on disclosure control. Estimates based on a number of respondents (known as the 'unweighted base') that is less than 50 are suppressed as these estimates are deemed to be less reliable.

Rounding

Estimates in the charts and tables are given to the nearest whole number but more detailed estimates to 1 decimal place are available in the download

Further technical information

Accuracy: Since the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is based on a sample of the population, estimates have a margin of quantifiable and non-quantifiable error associated with them. Non-quantifiable error includes:

  • when respondents have recalled crimes in the reference period that actually occurred outside that period

  • crimes that did occur in the reference period that were not mentioned at all (either because respondents failed to recall a fairly trivial incident or, conversely, because they did not want to disclose an incident, such as a domestic assault)

  • respondents saying they reported crimes to police when they did not (a “socially desirable” response)

  • some incidents reported during the interview being miscoded (‘interviewer or coder error’)

Coverage issues: The CSEW does not cover those living in communal establishments (such as care homes, student halls of residence and prisons), or crimes against commercial or public sector bodies.

7. Data sources

Source

Type of data

Survey data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Office for National Statistics

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is used alongside crime data recorded by police to provide the government with information about the extent and nature of crime in England and Wales.

The survey records all types of crimes experienced by people, including those crimes that may not have been reported to the police.

8. Download the data

Victims of crime - Spreadsheet (csv) 113 KB

This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, geography, gender, socio-economic status, value, denominator

Publication release date: 10 October 2017

full page history
  1. First published

From: Office for National Statistics

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