Crime in Portsmouth
Recorded crime in Portsmouth is 1.4 times the England and Wales average. Over 5 years it has fallen 17%. Most of the harm comes from violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences). Police data to August 2026.
214,321 residents in 125 neighbourhoods.
- Safety
- 2/10High crime
- Living
- 8.3/10Good
- 5-year change
- −17%fewer crimes
Crime over 5 years
Down 17% in 5 years Recorded crimes in Portsmouth, anti-social behaviour left out.
What is recorded
Crime severity: 1.4× the England and Wales average. 118 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
- Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences): 68% of the harm here
- Burglary: 10% of the harm here
- Robbery: 6% of the harm here
"Violence and sexual offences" is 68% of the harm here. It is a broad police category: most of these crimes are assaults without injury, harassment and threats, often indoors between people who know each other, and only a small part are sexual or serious violent offences. Police data does not say which, so each one is weighted at the England and Wales average for the category, which can overstate a quiet residential area.
Anti-social behaviour: 21 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, not scored. Not a crime, so it is not part of the Safety score.
Crime by type
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, most serious first, not counting anti-social behaviour.
| Type | Per 1,000 a year |
|---|---|
| Robbery | 1.3 |
| Burglary | 4.7 |
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 49.7 |
| Drugs | 4.2 |
| Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons) | 1.6 |
| Other crime | 1.8 |
| Other theft | 7.4 |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 0.9 |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 7.5 |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 11.1 |
| Public order | 12.8 |
| Bicycle theft | 3.3 |
| Shoplifting | 11.8 |
What crimes are recorded in Portsmouth
Crimes recorded by the police, April 2025 to March 2026. Source: Home Office, police recorded crime by community safety partnership.
| Type | Crimes in 2025/26 | Per 1,000 residents | Change on 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cars stolen | 457 | 2.1 | Up 20% |
| Cars broken into | 591 | 2.8 | Up 14% |
| Vehicle tampering | 201 | 0.94 | Up 61% |
| Vandalism to homes | 427 | 2.0 | Down 4% |
| Vandalism to other buildings | 332 | 1.5 | Down 12% |
| Vandalism to vehicles | 543 | 2.5 | Down 9% |
| Arson | 46 | 0.21 | Down 19% |
| Burglary of homes | 319 | 1.5 | Down 12% |
| Burglary of businesses | 200 | 0.93 | Down 9% |
| Homicide (murder and manslaughter) | 0 | - | - |
| Carrying a knife or blade | 217 | 1.0 | Up 10% |
| Carrying other weapons (including guns) | 181 | 0.84 | Down 20% |
| Robbery of people | 189 | 0.88 | Down 5% |
| Robbery of businesses | 197 | 0.92 | Up 447% |
| Violence with injury | 2,816 | 13.1 | Down 11% |
| Violence without injury | 3,863 | 18.0 | Down 5% |
| Stalking and harassment | 2,897 | 13.5 | Down 2% |
| Sexual offences | 1,045 | 4.9 | Down 5% |
| Shoplifting | 3,041 | 14.2 | Up 10% |
| Bicycle theft | 470 | 2.2 | Up 21% |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 177 | 0.83 | Down 4% |
| Drug dealing | 270 | 1.3 | Down 3% |
| Drug possession | 881 | 4.1 | Down 6% |
Under 10 a year: no rate or change, the numbers are too small to compare. These are council-area figures: police.uk street-level data, used for the map and the Safety score, only has the broad categories, and no source publishes murders or stabbings by street.
Hampshire Police area: 991 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in 2025/26 (991 the year before). This covers the whole police force area, not only Portsmouth.
Source: Home Office, police recorded knife crime by police force.
Towns and cities in Portsmouth
Postcode districts in Portsmouth
Questions about crime in Portsmouth
- Is Portsmouth a safe place to live?
- Portsmouth scores 2 out of 10 for safety (high crime), compared with every neighbourhood in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Is crime going up or down in Portsmouth?
- Down 17% over 5 years, from 28,778 recorded crimes a year to 23,801.
- What is the most common crime in Portsmouth?
- The most common recorded crime is violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences), about 50 per 1,000 residents a year.
- How many cars are stolen in Portsmouth?
- In Portsmouth, the police recorded 457 cars stolen in 2025/26 (April 2025 to March 2026), 2.1 per 1,000 residents, up 20% on the year before.
- Is vandalism common in Portsmouth?
- 1,302 acts of vandalism to homes, other buildings and vehicles were recorded in Portsmouth in 2025/26, 6.1 per 1,000 residents, 1.3 times the England and Wales average.
- How many murders were there in Portsmouth last year?
- No homicides (murder or manslaughter) were recorded in Portsmouth in 2025/26, against 0 the year before.