Third of sexual offences in Scotland cyber-enabled, latest figures show

The report said the “estimated volume of sexual crimes that were cybercrimes has gradually increased over the longer term from 1,100 in 2013/14”.

An estimated 4,320 of the sexual crimes recorded by police in 2023/24 were said to be cyber-enabled, up from 3,830 in the previous year.

In total, an estimated 16,910 cybercrimes were recorded by Police Scotland. This was an increase of around 2,000 crimes (or 14 per cent) when compared with the estimated volume for 2022/23 (14,890).

Levels also remain significantly above the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20 (with 7,710 cybercrimes).

Scotland’s Chief Statistician said nine per cent of crimes of dishonesty and four per cent of non-sexual crimes of violence were also linked to cybercrime.

While sexual crimes decreased by one per cent, from 14,602 to 14,484, these crimes are now at the third highest level seen since 1971, the first year for which comparable groups are available.

Overall, the latest statistics show that crimes recorded by Police Scotland between 2022/23 and 2023/24 increased by four per cent, from 289,362 to 299,780.

Chief Statistician Alastair McAlpine said recording of crime remains below the position immediately prior to the pandemic (2019/20) and down 51 per cent from its peak in 1991.

However, he said: “The nationwide lockdowns and other measures put in place to limit social contact during the Covid-19 pandemic are very likely to have had a significant impact on the type and volume of crime recorded since March 2020.

“A larger impact was seen during 2020/21, and to a lesser extent 2021/22. However, some caution is advised before necessarily attributing all of the changes seen over this period to the pandemic. For example, longer-term trends in some types of offending, which existed prior to Covid-19, may remain a factor.”

Non-sexual crimes of violence increased by four per cent between 2022/23 and 2023/24, from 68,870 to 71,463. Common assault (up three per cent) makes up the clear majority (83 per cent) of all non-sexual crimes of violence recorded in 2023/24.

Crimes of dishonesty increased by seven per cent, from 103,393 to 111,054. The recording of these crimes is back to the level seen immediately prior to the pandemic (in 2019/20) and down 74 per cent from the peak in 1991.

Damage and reckless behaviour crimes decreased by five per cent, from 43,123 to 41,129. The recording of these crimes is now at the lowest level seen since 1976.

Crimes against society increased by four per cent from 59,374 to 61,650. Most of these crimes relate to crimes against public justice (41 per cent) or drug possession (34 per cent).

Offences recorded by Police Scotland collectively increased by one per cent, from 172,207 to 174,073. This included increases in miscellaneous offences (up eight per cent) and road traffic offences (up three per cent), while anti-social offences fell by five per cent.

In addition to the Accredited Official Statistics on police recorded crimes and offences, the Chief Statistician’s latest bulletin also presents official statistics on crimes and offences cleared up by the police in 2023/24.

In 2023/24 the clear up rate was 54.1 per cent, up from 53.3 per cent in the previous year. Crimes against society (91.4 per cent), non-sexual crimes of violence (68 per cent) and sexual crime (57.2 per cent) continued to have higher clear up rates in 2023/24 than crimes of dishonesty (33.1 per cent) and damage and reckless behaviour (29.6 per cent).

Mr McAlpine said: Both the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey and police recorded crime provide evidence of large decreases in crime in Scotland over the last 15 years or so.

“When using a comparable set of crimes, the survey found that the estimated volume of crime in Scotland, including incidents not reported to the police, fell by 61 per cent between 2008/09 and 2021/22, while police recorded crime fell by 46 per cent over the same period.”