Thefts up 39% since last year, CSO crime figures show

The number of thefts has increased by 39 per cent in the first three quarters of this year compared to last year, with burglaries up by nearly a fifth, according to the latest crime figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Reported thefts increased from 45,142 to more than 62,000, the biggest rise across all categories of crimes over the period.

Drug offences saw the biggest decrease, falling by just under a fifth from 21,450 offences recorded by gardaí down to 17,416.

The number of murders in the 12-month period increased from 51 to 57, while kidnappings and related offences increased from 136 to 175.

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The CSO figures, published on Wednesday, reveal that the number of burglaries reported to gardaí increased by 18 per cent over the previous year, from 8,362 to nearly 10,000.

Reported cases of robbery, extortion or hijacking were up 17 per cent from 1,682 to 1,975, according to the figures.

There were more cases of fraud and scams this year than the same period in 2021, with the latest figures showing an increase from 13,597 in the first nine months of last year, to 14,655 this year.

The levels of reported frauds this year are nearly double the number recorded by gardaí in the first nine months of 2020.

However, the CSO said that trend was beginning to change in recent months, with a 38 per cent drop in reports of fraud during the third quarter of 2022, compared to the same period last year.

“This was largely driven by a fall in unauthorised transactions and attempts to obtain personal or banking information online or by phone,” the State agency said.

Threats or attempted murder, as well as harassment, increased by 20 per cent in the 12 months to the end of September. The number of recorded cases on the internal Garda Pulse system were up to 23,299, from 19,327 reports in the first three quarters of last year.

The number of sexual offences reported was up slightly from 3,380 cases to 3,573, a six per cent rise. There was also an increase in public order offences, up from 27,440 to 31,128.

CSO crime statistician Jim Dalton said the latest figures showed “most categories of crime were up in the 12 months to September 2022 compared with a year earlier”.

The CSO noted that crime figures for 2020 and 2021 may have been lower due to Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns that had been in place for large periods of time.