Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2024-25

Scotland's Chief Statistician today released the main findings of the 2024-25 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS).

The 2024-25 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey shows that most adults in Scotland (79.2%) were not victims of any crime measured by the survey. One-in-five (20.8%) were estimated to have experienced at least one crime, this included property crime (9.4% of adults), violent crime (2.5%) and fraud & computer misuse (11.5%).

The latest findings also show that people feel safer in their local communities although there has been a fall in confidence in the police across a range of measures.

The extent and prevalence of crime in Scotland in 2024-25

The proportion of adults who experienced at least one property or violent crime in 2024-25 (11.4%) remains lower than in 2008-09 (20.4%) but remains at a similar level to all surveys since 2019-20.

The survey estimates 1,199,000 crimes occurred in Scotland in 2024-25. Crimes of fraud & computer misuse accounted for around half (49%) of these, followed by property crime (34%) and violent crime (17%).

The estimated volume of property and violent crimes individually have both fallen over the longer term, down 43% and 37% respectively since 2008-09, but has remained at a similar level since 2019-20.

Consistent with previous years, the majority of violent incidents were cases of minor assault resulting in no or negligible injury (60%), followed by minor assault with injury (23%) and attempted assault (10%), with instances of serious assault (6%) and robbery (2%) remaining relatively uncommon.

In 2024-25, 14.9% of adults were victims of a single SCJS crime (including fraud and computer misuse), accounting for 51% of all crime. Multiple victimisation affected 5.8% of adults, who experienced 49% of all of these crimes.

This report includes the second findings on the nature and extent of fraud and computer misuse in Scotland. These results show that, in 2024-25, 11.5% of adults were the victim of a fraud or computer misuse crime, with over two-fifths (45%) of these crimes being bank and credit card fraud. The survey also shows that most people who lost money through fraud were ultimately reimbursed.

Crime continues to be experienced disproportionately among some groups in the population. The likelihood of experiencing any SCJS crime, including fraud and computer misuse, in 2024-25 was highest for those aged 16 to 24 and lowest for those aged 60 and over, for adults who are disabled and those living in urban areas of Scotland. Many population groups have seen the likelihood of experiencing any property or violent crime decrease since 2008-09.

In 2024-25, adults in Scotland were more likely to have experienced crime than those in England and Wales, with victimisation rates of 20.8% and 17.1% respectively. This is based on the wider measure of SCJS crime (including fraud & computer misuse).

For property and violent crime alone, the victimisation rate for both Scotland and England and Wales have both fallen significantly over the longer term to a similar position in 2024-25 (11.4% compared with 10.2%). This differs from the position in 2023-24 when the figure for Scotland was higher but is more aligned to previous surveys where Scotland either had a similar or lower victimisation rate.

Public perceptions of the police, the justice system and crime in Scotland

Less than half of adults in Scotland (45%) believed the police in their local area were doing an ‘excellent' or ‘good' job in 2024-25. This is a decrease from 61% when the question was first asked in 2012-13, however it has remained the same since 2023-24. People aged 60 years and over (40%) were less likely to agree the police were doing a good or excellent job compared with younger adults aged 16–24 (53%) and 25–44 (49%).

The survey also looks at attitudes towards more specific elements of policing (including policing effectiveness, community engagement and fairness). Most adults expressed confidence in the local police force's capability across various aspects of police 'effectiveness,' including their ability to deal with incidents as they occur and solve crimes. An exception was in preventing crime where 43% of adults were confident in the police. These measures of confidence in police effectiveness have decreased from a high in 2014-15, with some returning to 2008-09 levels.

Over two thirds (72%) of respondents thought that the local crime rate had stayed the same or reduced in the two years prior to interview. This is unchanged from the position in 2023-24 but is higher than in 2008-09 (69%). In 2024-25, the majority of adults in Scotland said they felt very or fairly safe walking alone in their local area after dark (76%) and when in their home alone at night (96%).

Generally the public were fairly confident about the operation of the justice system in Scotland. For example, around three-quarters of adults (74%) were confident that the justice system allows all those accused of crimes to get a fair trial regardless of who they are. However, adults were less confident on other related measures, for example only 33% were confident that it deals with cases promptly and efficiently.

Background

The figures released today were produced in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

The full statistical publication is available on the Scottish Government website.

This report covers 4,948 face to face interviews conducted between April 2024 and April 2025. Participants were adults (aged 16 and over) living in private households in Scotland. There was a 47.7% response rate, this is similar to the previous two surveys (46.0% in 2023-24 and 47.3% in 2021-22) but still remains lower than surveys conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey is one of the Scottish Government's flagship national surveys. The survey allows the people of Scotland to independently report their experiences and perceptions of crime, and thus influence the continued development and improvement of the Scottish justice system. The SCJS also provides a range of additional information, including details on the characteristics of victims and offenders of crime. It also captures adults' perceptions of policing and the justice system.

The publication presents statistics on the extent of crime in Scotland, importantly including crime that is not reported to the police. However, it is limited to crimes against adults resident in households, and also does not cover all crime types. Experiences of sexual offences are not included in the main estimates and are instead collected in the self-completion section. Police recorded crime is a measure of those crimes reported to the police and recorded by them as a crime or offence.

More information about the survey, including the online data tables for 2024/25 results are available on the Scottish Government website.

Further breakdowns for some smaller population groups are also being published on perception of crime in the local area from the Scottish Survey Core Questions, which combines data from the three large Scottish Government household surveys. These breakdowns are available on the Scottish Survey Core Questions webpage.

As with all surveys, SCJS results are estimates, not precise figures. Results are only described as ‘increases' or ‘decreases' where statistical tests identify statistically significant differences. Where they do not detect significant change, results are reported as showing ‘no change' – even if the estimate from one year appears greater or smaller than the comparator year. Importantly, this does not mean there has definitely been no change, but that the sample is not large enough to confidently detect any change that has or has not occurred. These issues are common to all population surveys, particularly on issues that affect only a minority of people. Often, where changes and trends emerge, they can be more easily detected over longer time periods, as cumulative changes build year-on-year.

Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff. Further information on Crime and Justice statistics within Scotland or the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be found on the Scottish Government website.