How does your area compare to other parts of Merseyside and England and Wales?
17:38, 10 May 2026
A huge convoy of Merseyside Police vans travelling through Liverpool City Centre
Liverpool has been named in the top 10 places most affected by crime outside of London – and one kind of offence happens here more than anywhere else, the government’s latest stats show. The Home Office figures show that recorded crime has continued to fall in England and Wales, with a 2% drop in all non-fraud crime in 2025 compared to the previous year.
That includes an 11% drop in burglary, a 8% decrease in theft as well as a 6% reduction in homicide. But the nationals stats have also shown increases in some other types of crimes, including a 5% rise in sexual offences, a 6% rise in weapons possession and a significant 18% rise in drugs offences.
Because of widely reported factors such as deprivation, economic inequality and the density of urban environments, unsurprisingly the Home Office figures show that some parts of the country are statistically more dangerous to live in than others.
Liverpool was the sixth most “dangerous” place to live in England and Wales outside of London, according to the stats.
Last year Merseyside Police recorded 62,853 non-fraud crimes in Liverpool. That translates to a crime rate of 124 offences for every 1,000 people who live in the city. The statistics show one of the most prevalent problems in Liverpool is drugs, with the city facing the highest rates of drug crime in the country.
St Helens had the second-highest crime rate in Merseyside with a recorded 87 crimes per 1,000 people, closely followed by Knowsley, with a recorded rate of 82. Sefton had a crime rate of around 76 crimes per 1,000 people, while, according to the data, Wirral was statistically the safest place in Merseyside to live with a rate of 70 crimes.
Crime rates are calculated by dividing the number of crimes by the population size. They are generally considered the fairest way of comparing crime in areas of wildly different sizes. But fraud offences, the most commonly experienced crime, are not reported on a regional basis and are instead centrally collated.
Merseyside Police confirmed the latest statistics showed that across the five Merseyside boroughs there had been an increase of less than 1% in all crimes. There had been decreases in victim-based crime, violence and antisocial behaviour.
But there have also been year-on-year increases in crime, none-more-so than drugs offences. With Liverpool leading the way in terms of the national picture, it is no surprise that drug offences increased by 13% across the whole of Merseyside.
Assistant Chief Constable Andy Ryan, head of the force’s crime and intelligence, told the ECHO: “Although we understand that such an increase may cause concern, we don’t necessarily see an increase in drug arrests as a negative result, but in part as a result of proactive resources being invested in the issue.
“In the past year, our policing of serious and organised crime has led to significant numbers of warrants, arrests, charges and sentences – some brilliant – across many strands of the force.
“These include continued prosecutions under Operation Venetic following the infiltration of the Encrochat network by law enforcement; Operation Toxic, our response to county lines drug supply; work by our specialist cannabis dismantling team (CDT); large-scale enforcement work under Operation Vanguard; and warrants carried out across the force.
“We are constantly looking for information and opportunities to target drug offences and offenders, and such proactive policing will naturally result in more offences being identified.”
The other significant increase saw sexual offences increase by 5%, matching the national picture. The assistant chief constable added: “We will continue our dedicated work to prevent people becoming victims of such a despicable crime through specially trained teams, who work thoroughly and compassionately to ensure that victims are properly supported throughout the whole criminal justice process.
“Violence against women and girls (VAWG) remains an absolute priority for the force, and as well as taking action with perpetrators we work alongside partners on a range of initiatives to prevent VAWG offences from happening.”
Merseyside recorded nine homicides for the year ending December 2025. It also recorded 42 deaths or serious injury by unlawful dying. The figures show there were 55,237 recorded cases of violence against a person; 13,128 cases of violence with injury; and 25,298 cases of violence without injury.
Meanwhile the stats recorded 16,760 cases of stalking and 4,840 sexual offences. There were 28,955 recorded cases of theft; 4,126 burglaries; 9,754 recorded instances of shoplifting and 5,133 recorded vehicle offences.
The regional figures also show 13,900 offences of criminal damage and arson; 1,372 crimes involving possession of weapons; 15,464 public order offences; and 3,601 miscellaneous crimes.
Assistant Chief Constable Ryan said: “We can see that this data reflects an altering criminal landscape, not just in Merseyside, but nationally. To flex and adapt to such is vital for any organisation, so our new force operating model went live in March, which was a direct response to the modern challenges police forces are facing.
“Chief Constable Rob Carden introduced four new basic command unit (BCU) areas – Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral, plus a combined BCU comprising Knowsley and St Helens. Each of these four areas are now led by a chief superintendent, who are now accountable for all policing activity within their area, including neighbourhood policing, response, investigations, problem‑solving and prevention.
“The restructure also introduced a new crime management unit to ensure crimes are recorded accurately, prioritised quickly, and investigated fairly. What does this mean for those who live, work and visit Merseyside? A quicker response, greater local knowledge, and a sharper focus on those crimes which cause most harm in our communities.
“This new model substantially enhances our resilience, increases our proactive capability to tackle all of these offences, and ensures our resources are aligned where they are needed most, so that long-term, we are confident it will help drive Merseyside toward being one of the best performing forces in the country.”
You can check crime rates in your area and compare them with the rest of the country using our interactive map:
Across all of England and Wales, Broadland in Norfolk is the safest place in England and Wales to live, with a low crime rate of just 35 per 1,000 residents. It is followed by Waverley (37), Ribble Valley (38), North Kesteven (38), and Suffolk Coastal (39).
The top 10 “most dangerous” places outside London are:
BlackpoolMiddlesbroughManchesterHartlepoolBristol, City ofLiverpoolNottinghamSouthamptonKingston upon Hull, City ofBradford
The list excludes London, where extremely high numbers of tourists in central London make easy pickings for opportunistic criminals. In Westminster, for example, a relatively low resident population combined with vast numbers of visitors results in a skewed crime rate of 380 offences per 1,000 residents, far higher than anywhere else in the country.