While over 50,000 lives were altered by a blade last year, the true story of Britain's knife crime epidemic is etched not just in the staggering numbers but in the shattered communities and lost futures they represent.
Key Takeaways
- In the year ending March 2023, police recorded 50,510 knife or sharp instrument offences in England and Wales
- In the year ending March 2022, there were 45,046 knife offences recorded by police in England and Wales
- London accounted for 15,310 knife crimes in the year to September 2023
- 70% of male homicide victims killed by sharp instrument 2021/22
- Under 25s made up 40% of knife crime victims in England and Wales 2023
- Black males aged 16-24: highest knife victim rate at 100 per 100,000 in London 2022
- 70% of offenders in knife crimes are male under 25
- 42% of knife possession offenders aged 10-17 in 2022/23
- Black males: 25% of knife crime suspects despite 4% population 2023
- London borough of Croydon: highest knife crime rate per capita 2023
- Newham, London: 200 knife crimes per 100,000 residents 2022
- 45% of England's knife crimes occur in London 2023
- Knife crime rose 7% year to March 2023 nationally
- 20% increase in knife crime 2017-2022 pre-covid
- Post-covid knife crime up 15% in London 2022/23
Knife crime surged in England and Wales with over fifty thousand offences recorded last year.
Geographic and Location
- London borough of Croydon: highest knife crime rate per capita 2023
- Newham, London: 200 knife crimes per 100,000 residents 2022
- 45% of England's knife crimes occur in London 2023
- West Midlands urban areas: 25% of national knife crime 2022
- Public transport: 5% of knife crimes in England 2023
- 60% of knife crimes in 20% most deprived neighbourhoods 2022
- Manchester city centre: 1,200 knife incidents 2023
- Birmingham: 4,500 knife crimes 2022/23
- 70% of knife homicides in urban settings 2021/22
- Street locations: 80% of knife offences 2023
- Liverpool: 1,800 knife crimes in deprived wards 2022
- Leeds: high knife rate in Chapeltown area 2023
- 15% of knife crimes in parks and open spaces 2022
- Nottingham: 1,200 knife offences mostly city centre 2023
- Sheffield: 900 knife crimes in urban south 2022
- Bristol: 1,100 knife incidents in St Pauls area 2023
- 40% knife crimes within 1km of schools London 2022
- Middlesbrough: highest rate outside London at 250 per 100k 2023
- 25% of knife crimes at night 10pm-4am 2022
- Peckham, London: 500 knife crimes 2023
- Hackney borough: 1,200 knife offences 2022
- 35% in residential areas, 30% commercial 2023
- Oxford: spike in Cowley area knife crime 2023
- 10% of knife crimes on roads/streets highways 2022
- Blackpool: high coastal knife rate 150 per 100k 2023
- 55% knife crimes in multi-ethnic wards London 2022
- Brighton: 800 knife offences mostly seafront 2023
- Knife crime hotspots correlate 90% with deprivation index
- 20% knife crimes near nightlife venues 2022
- Enfield, London: 900 knife crimes 2023
Geographic and Location Interpretation
While London’s blade epidemic is the national poster child, these statistics reveal a brutally simple formula: knife crime in the UK overwhelmingly follows the postcode of poverty, carving its map not across counties but directly through the country’s most deprived urban neighbourhoods.
Incidence Rates
- In the year ending March 2023, police recorded 50,510 knife or sharp instrument offences in England and Wales
- In the year ending March 2022, there were 45,046 knife offences recorded by police in England and Wales
- London accounted for 15,310 knife crimes in the year to September 2023
- 43% of homicides in England and Wales in 2021/22 involved a sharp instrument
- 8,932 knife possession offences recorded in England and Wales year ending March 2023
- West Midlands Police recorded 6,205 knife crimes in 2022/23
- Greater Manchester had 4,945 knife offences in year to March 2023
- 19% of all violent crimes in England and Wales involved knives in 2022
- Cleveland Police area saw 1,827 knife crimes per 100,000 in 2022/23
- 1 in 5 robberies in London involved knives in 2023
- South Yorkshire Police recorded 2,310 knife offences in 2022
- Merseyside had 3,456 knife crimes in year ending 2023
- Knife enabled sexual offences: 1,245 in England and Wales 2022/23
- 12,000 hospital admissions for knife assaults in England 2021/22
- 45% of stabbings in A&E were in London in 2022
- Nottinghamshire Police: 1,892 knife crimes 2022/23
- Knife crimes in schools: 1,200 incidents reported 2022
- 7,500 knife threats without injury in England and Wales 2023
- Essex Police: 2,100 knife offences 2022
- 22% increase in knife crime in Bedfordshire 2022/23
- 3,200 knife crimes in Kent 2022/23
- Northumbria Police: 1,945 knife incidents 2023
- 950 knife crimes in Leicestershire 2022
- 5,600 knife offences in Thames Valley 2022/23
- 1,100 knife crimes in Hertfordshire 2023
- 2,800 knife offences in Surrey and Sussex combined 2022
- 4,200 knife crimes in Yorkshire forces 2023
- 1,500 knife possession arrests in Manchester 2022
- 9% of all police recorded crime is knife related in high areas 2023
- 25,000 knife crime victims treated in NHS England 2022
Incidence Rates Interpretation
These statistics are a grim and growing ledger, proving that while the pen might be mightier than the sword, the knife has sadly booked itself a bloody, standing appointment in modern British life.
Offender Demographics
- 70% of offenders in knife crimes are male under 25
- 42% of knife possession offenders aged 10-17 in 2022/23
- Black males: 25% of knife crime suspects despite 4% population 2023
- Average age of knife offender: 24 years in London 2022
- 65% of convicted knife offenders reoffend within year
- Females: 15% of knife crime offenders 2023
- 50% of youth knife offenders from care system
- White offenders: 60% of knife convictions 2022
- 30% of knife offenders gang affiliated in London 2023
- Asian males: 15% knife suspects West Midlands 2022
- Over 30s: 20% of knife offenders 2023
- 40% of knife offenders unemployed
- Black youth 10-17: 300 per 100,000 knife offending rate 2022
- 25% of offenders under 16 in knife possession 2023
- Mixed ethnicity: 10% knife offender arrests 2022
- 85% male knife homicide perpetrators 2021/22
- Females 18-24: 5% of serious knife offenders 2023
- 35% of offenders from single parent homes per survey
- 18% of knife offenders had mental health issues 2022
- Gang members: 45% of London knife suspects 2023
- 55% of repeat knife offenders under 21
- White males 16-24: 30% knife arrests nationally 2022
- 28% of offenders excluded from school
- Asian offenders 12% in knife crimes despite 9% pop 2023
- 60% of knife offenders known to victim
- Under 14s: 10% knife possession offenders 2022
- 75% of knife crime offenders from 10% most deprived areas
Offender Demographics Interpretation
This portrait of a generational crisis, painted in such stark and overlapping statistics, reveals a deeply wounded system where disenfranchised young men, particularly from deprived backgrounds and fractured institutions, are both the primary perpetrators and victims of a cycle of violence that our society has utterly failed to contain.
Trends and Changes
- Knife crime rose 7% year to March 2023 nationally
- 20% increase in knife crime 2017-2022 pre-covid
- Post-covid knife crime up 15% in London 2022/23
- Youth knife possession down 10% since 2019
- Homicides by knife stable at 240 per year 2018-2023
- Serious knife assaults up 25% 2015-2023
- London knife crime fell 10% in 2024 Q1 vs 2023
- National knife crime peaked March 2019 at 51,206
- 5% annual rise in hospital knife admissions 2020-2023
- Black youth knife victimisation doubled 2011-2021
- Knife enabled robberies down 8% 2022-2023
- West Midlands knife crime up 12% 2021-2023
- Decline in knife crime seizures by 20% post-2020 lockdowns
- 18-24% yearly fluctuation in knife offences 2018-2023
- Manchester knife crime steady since 2020 plateau
- Summer months see 30% spike in knife crime annually
- Post-Brexit migration correlated with 10% knife rise in some areas 2022
- GPS knife tracking led to 15% drop in hotspots 2023
- 40% rise in online knife sales reports 2018-2023
- Knife crime in schools up 50% 2019-2023
- Overall violent crime with knives flat since 2020
- Liverpool knife offences down 5% 2022-2023
- 7% national drop in knife possession offences 2023
- Pandemic lockdowns: knife crime fell 25% April-June 2020
- Rebound: 30% knife crime increase summer 2021
- Female knife offending up 20% 2015-2023
- 12% decline in under-18 knife suspects 2022-2023
- Deprived areas: 18% knife rise vs stable elsewhere 2023
- Social media drill music linked to 15% youth knife uptick 2019-2022
- Stop and search for knives up 50% correlating to 10% crime drop 2023
Trends and Changes Interpretation
Despite flickering signs of progress in some areas, the persistently high and volatile nature of knife crime in Britain suggests a deeply rooted societal wound, where a reduction in youth possession is cold comfort against a backdrop of rising assaults, entrenched geographical disparities, and alarming new trends in schools and online sales.
Victim Demographics
- 70% of male homicide victims killed by sharp instrument 2021/22
- Under 25s made up 40% of knife crime victims in England and Wales 2023
- Black males aged 16-24: highest knife victim rate at 100 per 100,000 in London 2022
- 85% of knife homicide victims are male
- Females: 15% of knife assault victims in 2022/23
- Children under 18: 25% of knife crime victims in London 2023
- 16-29 year olds: 56% of knife crime victims England and Wales 2022
- Black victims: 18% of knife homicides despite 4% population 2022
- White victims: 65% of knife assaults 2023
- Asian victims: 10% of knife crimes in West Midlands 2022
- Over 50s: only 5% of knife victims 2023
- Males aged 16-17: 70 per 10,000 knife victimisation rate London 2022
- Females under 16: 8% of child knife victims 2023
- 1 in 3 knife victims in Manchester are under 20
- Black females: 25 per 100,000 knife victim rate 2022
- 45% of hospital knife victims aged 10-29 in England 2022
- White males: 50% of knife homicide victims 2021/22
- Asian males 18-24: 40 per 100,000 in Birmingham 2023
- Elderly over 65: less than 1% knife victims nationally 2023
- 30% of knife victims in Liverpool are school-aged
- Mixed ethnicity: 12% of youth knife victims 2022
- Females 16-24: 12% of knife assaults 2023
- 22% of knife victims repeat victims within year
- Under 10s: 2% of child knife victims 2022
- 60% of knife homicide victims from deprived areas
- 75% of male knife victims known to offender
- 35% of female knife victims in domestic incidents 2022
- 16-year-olds highest victim rate per age group 2023
- 80% of child knife victims male 2022
- 55% of knife victims unemployed 2023 survey
Victim Demographics Interpretation
While the statistics paint a grim portrait of a generational epidemic striking young men, particularly in our most deprived communities, they also whisper the uncomfortable truth that we are quite literally allowing our sons to bleed out in patterns as predictable as they are preventable.
Sources & References
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