These statistics are categorised as Under Reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO.
For further information please refer to the Under Reservation FAQ page.
Table 3.1 shows a breakdown of the number of recorded crime incidents by offence type for 2018 and 2019. The large increase in the number of Controlled drug offences included an increase of 684 incidents classified as Possession of drugs for sale or supply (+16.4%) and an increase of 2,304 incidents classified as Possession of drugs for personal use (+17.2%).
There were increases in the number of recorded incidents of Murder-attempt (+11), Murder-threat (+205) and Assault causing harm, poisoning (+365) in 2019. The number of incidents of Robbery from the person fell by 104, or 7%.
There was a substantial increase in the number of recorded incidents of Driving/In charge of a vehicle under the influence of drugs. The number of incidents increased by 736 to a total of 1,252 for the year. This was more than double the previous year’s figure. Incidents of Driving/In charge of a vehicle while over the legal alcohol limit fell by 474 (-6.7%) over the same period.
| Table 3.1 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group and annualised2 total to Q4 2018 and 2019 | |||||
| Annualised total to Q4 | |||||
| ICCSq offence group | 2018 | 2019 | Change | % Change | |
| 01 Homicide offences | 80 | 50 | -30 | -37.5 | |
| 01a | Murder | 40 | 35 | -5 | -12.5 |
| 01b | Manslaughter | 7 | 4 | -3 | -42.9 |
| 01c | Infanticide | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 01d | Dangerous driving leading to death | 33 | 11 | -22 | -66.7 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 3,182 | 3,307 | 125 | 3.9 | |
| 02a | Rape of a male or female | 784 | 807 | 23 | 2.9 |
| 02b | Defilement of a boy or girl less than 17 years old | 173 | 185 | 12 | 6.9 |
| 02c | Sexual offence involving mentally impaired person | 31 | 20 | -11 | -35.5 |
| 02d | Aggravated sexual assault | 11 | 9 | -2 | -18.2 |
| 02e | Sexual assault (not aggravated) | 1,779 | 1,781 | 2 | 0.1 |
| 02f | Other sexual offences | 404 | 505 | 101 | 25.0 |
| 03 Attempts or threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 20,165 | 21,752 | 1,587 | 7.9 | |
| 03a | Murder-attempt | 14 | 25 | 11 | 78.6 |
| 03b | Murder-threat | 1,064 | 1,269 | 205 | 19.3 |
| 03c | Assault causing harm, poisoning | 4,547 | 4,912 | 365 | 8.0 |
| 03d | Other assault | 12,904 | 13,874 | 970 | 7.5 |
| 03e | Harassment and related offences | 1,636 | 1,672 | 36 | 2.2 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 8,559 | 8,705 | 146 | 1.7 | |
| 04a | Dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm | 29 | 25 | -4 | -13.8 |
| 04b | Driving/In charge of a vehicle while over legal alcohol limit | 7,102 | 6,628 | -474 | -6.7 |
| 04c | Driving/In charge of a vehicle under the influence of drugs | 516 | 1,252 | 736 | 142.6 |
| 04f | Endangerment with potential for serious harm or death | 207 | 234 | 27 | 13.0 |
| 04g | Abandoning a child, child neglect and cruelty | 346 | 284 | -62 | -17.9 |
| 04h | Unseaworthy/dangerous use of boat or ship | 2 | 3 | 1 | 50.0 |
| 04i | False alarm/interference with aircraft or air transport facilities | 0 | 3 | 3 | n/a |
| 04j | Endangering traffic offences | 357 | 276 | -81 | -22.7 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 127 | 123 | -4 | -3.1 | |
| 05a | False imprisonment | 82 | 84 | 2 | 2.4 |
| 05b | Abduction of person under 16 years of age | 17 | 19 | 2 | 11.8 |
| 05c | Human trafficking offences | 28 | 20 | -8 | -28.6 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2,435 | 2,339 | -96 | -3.9 | |
| 06a | Robbery of an establishment or institution | 676 | 635 | -41 | -6.1 |
| 06b | Robbery of cash or goods in transit | 22 | 34 | 12 | 54.5 |
| 06c | Robbery from the person | 1,482 | 1,378 | -104 | -7.0 |
| 06d | Blackmail or extortion | 141 | 144 | 3 | 2.1 |
| 06e | Carjacking, hijacking/unlawful seizure of aircraft/vessel | 114 | 148 | 34 | 29.8 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 16,966 | 16,772 | -194 | -1.1 | |
| 07a | Aggravated burglary | 253 | 275 | 22 | 8.7 |
| 07b | Burglary (not aggravated) | 16,379 | 16,163 | -216 | -1.3 |
| 07c | Possession of an article (with intent to burgle, steal, demand) | 334 | 334 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 66,920 | 68,414 | 1,494 | 2.2 | |
| 08a | Theft/Taking of vehicle and related offences | 4,714 | 4,767 | 53 | 1.1 |
| 08b | Theft from person | 4,545 | 4,333 | -212 | -4.7 |
| 08c | Theft from shop | 23,632 | 24,726 | 1,094 | 4.6 |
| 08d | Other thefts, handling stolen property | 34,029 | 34,588 | 559 | 1.6 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 6,295 | 7,944 | 1,649 | 26.2 | |
| 09a | Fraud, deception and related offences | 6,295 | 7,944 | 1,649 | 26.2 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 18,309 | 21,475 | 3,166 | 17.3 | |
| 10a | Importation of drugs | 15 | 30 | 15 | 100.0 |
| 10b | Cultivation or manufacture of drugs | 200 | 191 | -9 | -4.5 |
| 10c | Possession of drugs for sale or supply | 4,161 | 4,845 | 684 | 16.4 |
| 10d | Possession of drugs for personal use | 13,390 | 15,694 | 2,304 | 17.2 |
| 10e | Other drug offences | 543 | 715 | 172 | 31.7 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2,438 | 2,686 | 248 | 10.2 | |
| 11a | Explosives, chemical weapons offences | 35 | 80 | 45 | 128.6 |
| 11b | Discharging a firearm | 90 | 98 | 8 | 8.9 |
| 11c | Possession of a firearm | 186 | 206 | 20 | 10.8 |
| 11d | Offensive weapons offences (nec) | 1,959 | 2,097 | 138 | 7.0 |
| 11e | Fireworks offences | 168 | 205 | 37 | 22.0 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 21,531 | 21,914 | 383 | 1.8 | |
| 12a | Arson | 1,679 | 1,586 | -93 | -5.5 |
| 12b | Criminal damage (not arson) | 19,703 | 20,173 | 470 | 2.4 |
| 12c | Litter offences | 149 | 155 | 6 | 4.0 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 31,982 | 32,408 | 426 | 1.3 | |
| 13a | Disorderly conduct | 26,945 | 27,941 | 996 | 3.7 |
| 13b | Trespass offences | 2,188 | 2,269 | 81 | 3.7 |
| 13c | Liquor licensing offences | 591 | 545 | -46 | -7.8 |
| 13d | Prostitution offences | 37 | 113 | 76 | 205.4 |
| 13e | Regulated betting or money, collection or trading offences | 154 | 135 | -19 | -12.3 |
| 13f | Other social code offences (nec) | 2,067 | 1,405 | -662 | -32.0 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 16,165 | 16,474 | 309 | 1.9 | |
| 15a | Offences against government and its agents (nec) | 199 | 239 | 40 | 20.1 |
| 15b | Organisation of crime and conspiracy to commit crime | 6 | 9 | 3 | 50.0 |
| 15c | Perverting the course of justice | 27 | 24 | -3 | -11.1 |
| 15d | Offences while in custody, breach of court orders | 15,933 | 16,202 | 269 | 1.7 |
| 1 These statistics are categorised as under reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by CSO. | |||||
| 2 The annualised figure for a given quarter is the total number of crimes recorded in the 12 months prior to end of that quarter. | |||||
Table 3.2 shows the trend in recorded crime incidents by incident category over a five-year period, from 2015 to 2019. This information is presented graphically in Figures 3.1 and 3.2.
As noted earlier, some care should be taken when interpreting the fall in Homicides in 2019 compared to previous years, as more recent figures may rise as investigations into fatal road traffic collisions conclude.
The number of recorded Sexual offences has increased in each year over the five years, with a total of 3,307 incidents in 2019 compared to 2,279 incidents in 2015, an increase of 45.1%. The total number of incidents of Controlled drug offences in 2019 was 42.7% higher than in 2015. Recorded incidents of Burglary and related offences have fallen by 36.3% compared to four years earlier.
| Table 3.2 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group and annualised2 total to Q4, 2015 to 2019 | |||||
| Annualised total to Q4 | |||||
| ICCSq offence group | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 83 | 85 | 92 | 80 | 50 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 2,279 | 2,523 | 2,881 | 3,182 | 3,307 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 16,909 | 16,699 | 18,982 | 20,165 | 21,752 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 7,117 | 7,689 | 8,369 | 8,559 | 8,705 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 153 | 123 | 130 | 127 | 123 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2,573 | 2,100 | 2,179 | 2,435 | 2,339 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 26,310 | 18,557 | 19,189 | 16,966 | 16,772 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 75,729 | 64,503 | 69,275 | 66,920 | 68,414 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 5,787 | 4,935 | 5,410 | 6,295 | 7,944 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 15,047 | 16,027 | 16,775 | 18,309 | 21,475 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2,373 | 2,137 | 2,379 | 2,438 | 2,686 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 25,947 | 22,182 | 23,155 | 21,531 | 21,914 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 33,272 | 29,217 | 31,201 | 31,982 | 32,408 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 11,440 | 12,298 | 13,729 | 16,165 | 16,474 |
| 1 These statistics are categorised as under reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by CSO. | |||||
| 2 The annualised figure for a given quarter is the total number of crimes recorded in the 12 months prior to end of that quarter. | |||||
| X-axis label | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 Sexual offences | 2279 | 2523 | 2881 | 3182 | 3307 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2573 | 2100 | 2179 | 2435 | 2339 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 5787 | 4935 | 5410 | 6295 | 7944 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2373 | 2137 | 2379 | 2438 | 2686 |
| X-axis label | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 Sexual offences | 2086 | 2321 | 2635 | 2938 | 3231 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 2606 | 2428 | 1999 | 2309 | 2416 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 5376 | 5464 | 5117 | 5322 | 6841 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 2489 | 2329 | 2112 | 2381 | 2491 |
| X-axis label | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 26310 | 18557 | 19189 | 16966 | 16772 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 75729 | 64503 | 69275 | 66920 | 68414 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 15047 | 16027 | 16775 | 18309 | 21475 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 25947 | 22182 | 23155 | 21531 | 21914 |
| X-axis label | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 28695 | 23452 | 18446 | 18683 | 16766 |
| 10 Controlled Drug offences | 15503 | 15489 | 16259 | 16564 | 19247 |
| 12 Criminal Damage | 27226 | 24894 | 22033 | 23053 | 21727 |
| 13 Public Order | 32670 | 32815 | 29077 | 31108 | 32571 |
A breakdown of recorded crime incidents by Garda region for 2018 and 2019 are provided in Table 3.3. The proportion of recorded incidents of Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences which occurred in the Dublin Metropolitan region represented 68.1% of the national total in 2019. Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences in the Dublin Metropolitan region fell by 190, or 10.7%, in 2019 compared to 2018. See Table 3.3 and Figure 3.3.
The roll-out of An Garda Síochána's new Operational Model commenced during Q4 2019. The number of Garda Regions was reduced from 6 to 4, while the number of Garda Divisions is reducing, on a phased basis, from 28 to 19. Recorded Crime statistics for Q4 2019 do not reflect these changes because the figures presented reflect whole-year figures for 2019 and comparison figures for 2018. Future Recorded Crime publications will present appropriate regional and/or divisional breakdowns and CSO will communicate changes to statistical users.
| Table 3.3 Recorded crime incidents1 classified by offence group, Garda region and annualised2 total to Q4 2018 and 2019 | |||||||
| Garda region | |||||||
| ICCSq offence group | Northern | Western | Southern | Eastern | South Eastern | Dublin Metropolitan | State |
| Annualised total to Q4 2018 | |||||||
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 17 | 9 | 17 | 10 | 8 | 19 | 80 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 404 | 313 | 593 | 485 | 432 | 955 | 3,182 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 2,558 | 2,166 | 3,527 | 3,024 | 2,287 | 6,603 | 20,165 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 1,233 | 1,098 | 1,664 | 1,518 | 1,232 | 1,814 | 8,559 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 20 | 12 | 20 | 20 | 7 | 48 | 127 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 96 | 88 | 199 | 165 | 103 | 1,784 | 2,435 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 1,534 | 1,356 | 2,084 | 2,722 | 1,652 | 7,618 | 16,966 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 4,103 | 4,240 | 9,706 | 8,172 | 5,298 | 35,401 | 66,920 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 626 | 527 | 839 | 919 | 554 | 2,830 | 6,295 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 1,296 | 1,237 | 3,176 | 3,604 | 2,110 | 6,886 | 18,309 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 240 | 190 | 373 | 286 | 207 | 1,142 | 2,438 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 2,389 | 1,789 | 3,664 | 2,928 | 2,275 | 8,486 | 21,531 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 4,091 | 3,505 | 6,871 | 3,195 | 3,888 | 10,432 | 31,982 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 896 | 873 | 2,479 | 1,741 | 1,199 | 8,977 | 16,165 |
| Annualised total to Q4 2019 | |||||||
| 01 Homicide and related offences | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 50 |
| 02 Sexual offences | 386 | 368 | 602 | 492 | 421 | 1,038 | 3,307 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 2,736 | 2,298 | 4,017 | 3,109 | 2,181 | 7,411 | 21,752 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 1,300 | 1,031 | 1,661 | 1,523 | 1,200 | 1,990 | 8,705 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | 16 | 17 | 26 | 8 | 16 | 40 | 123 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 149 | 87 | 243 | 180 | 86 | 1,594 | 2,339 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 1,410 | 1,162 | 1,891 | 2,983 | 1,605 | 7,721 | 16,772 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 4,132 | 4,147 | 9,300 | 8,777 | 5,034 | 37,024 | 68,414 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 725 | 782 | 1,115 | 1,112 | 674 | 3,536 | 7,944 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 1,830 | 1,336 | 3,516 | 4,093 | 2,328 | 8,372 | 21,475 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 283 | 222 | 405 | 309 | 208 | 1,259 | 2,686 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 2,475 | 1,947 | 3,505 | 3,004 | 2,130 | 8,853 | 21,914 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 4,489 | 3,263 | 6,463 | 3,499 | 3,746 | 10,948 | 32,408 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 1,007 | 1,276 | 2,061 | 1,883 | 1,092 | 9,155 | 16,474 |
| Annualised total change to Q4 2019 | |||||||
| 01 Homicide and related offences | -11 | -5 | -9 | -5 | -3 | 3 | -30 |
| 02 Sexual offences | -18 | 55 | 9 | 7 | -11 | 83 | 125 |
| 03 Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences | 178 | 132 | 490 | 85 | -106 | 808 | 1,587 |
| 04 Dangerous or negligent acts | 67 | -67 | -3 | 5 | -32 | 176 | 146 |
| 05 Kidnapping and related offences | -4 | 5 | 6 | -12 | 9 | -8 | -4 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 53 | -1 | 44 | 15 | -17 | -190 | -96 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | -124 | -194 | -193 | 261 | -47 | 103 | -194 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 29 | -93 | -406 | 605 | -264 | 1,623 | 1,494 |
| 09 Fraud, deception and related offences | 99 | 255 | 276 | 193 | 120 | 706 | 1,649 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 534 | 99 | 340 | 489 | 218 | 1,486 | 3,166 |
| 11 Weapons and explosives offences | 43 | 32 | 32 | 23 | 1 | 117 | 248 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 86 | 158 | -159 | 76 | -145 | 367 | 383 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 398 | -242 | -408 | 304 | -142 | 516 | 426 |
| 15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime | 111 | 403 | -418 | 142 | -107 | 178 | 309 |
| 1 These statistics are categorised as under reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by CSO. | |||||||
| 2 The annualised figure for a given quarter is the total number of crimes recorded in the 12 months prior to end of that quarter. | |||||||
| Northern | Western | Southern | Eastern | South Eastern | Dublin Metropolitan | |
| 02 Sexual offences | 11.672210462655 | 11.1279104928939 | 18.2038100997883 | 14.8775325068038 | 12.7305715149683 | 31.3879649228908 |
| 06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences | 6.37024369388628 | 3.71953826421548 | 10.3890551517743 | 7.69559640872168 | 3.67678495083369 | 68.1487815305686 |
| 07 Burglary and related offences | 8.40686859050799 | 6.92821368948247 | 11.2747436203196 | 17.7855950393513 | 9.5695206296208 | 46.0350584307179 |
| 08 Theft and related offences | 6.03969947671529 | 6.06162481363464 | 13.5937088899933 | 12.8292454760721 | 7.35814307013184 | 54.1175782734528 |
| 10 Controlled drug offences | 8.52153667054715 | 6.22118742724098 | 16.372526193248 | 19.0593713620489 | 10.8405122235157 | 38.9848661233993 |
| 12 Damage to property and to the environment | 11.2941498585379 | 8.88473122204983 | 15.9943415168386 | 13.7081317878981 | 9.71981381765082 | 40.3988317970247 |
| 13 Public order and other social code offences | 13.8515181436682 | 10.0685016045421 | 19.942606763762 | 10.7967168600346 | 11.5588743520118 | 33.7817822759812 |
The Statbank Tables are available here
Go to next chapter:Background Notes
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.