Domestic Abuse Recorded by the Police: Number of Crimes & Offences and Rates
Domestic Abuse Recorded by the Police: Number of Crimes & Offences and Rates
Data
Domestic Abuse Recorded by the Police: Number of Crimes & Offences and Rates
Description
Official Statistics on the number of domestic abuse aggravated crimes and offences, recorded by Police Scotland. The full publication is available on the Scottish Government website.
This data covers crimes and offences recorded over 12 months between 1 April to 31 March, for 2024-25.
Statistics provided here present the number of domestic abuse aggravated crimes and offences recorded by the police and rates per 10,000 population. The rates of crimes and offences per 10,000 population are also presented at a Local Authority level.
Domestic abuse recorded by the police does not reveal the incidence of all domestic abuse committed in Scotland, as not all incidents are reported to the police.
The definition of domestic abuse used by Police Scotland is: ‘Any form of physical, verbal, sexual, psychological or financial abuse which might amount to criminal conduct and which takes place within the context of a relationship. The relationship will be between partners (married, cohabiting, civil partnership or otherwise) or ex-partners. The abuse can be committed in the home or elsewhere including online’.
Contraventions of Scottish criminal law are divided into crimes and offences. The term “crime" is generally used for the more serious criminal acts and the less serious are termed "offences". The distinction is made only for statistical reporting purposes and does not influence the way the police investigate reports of criminal activity. The seriousness of the offence is generally related to the maximum sentence that can be imposed and does not relate to the impact on the individual experiencing the incident.
From 2024-25, domestic abuse aggravated crimes and offences are now recorded on Police Scotland’s new crime management system (UNIFI), instead of the iVPD. Given this, it is no longer possible to report on the proportion of domestic abuse incidents that involved a crime or offence. Furthermore, it is not possible to provide a like-for-like comparison with previous years.
Metadata
| Theme | Crime and Justice |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Scottish Government |
| License | UK Open Government Licence (OGL) |
| Published | |
| Last updated | |
| Next update | 1 Nov 2026 |
| Update frequency | annual |
| Reference period | 2024 to 2025 |
| Geographic coverage | Council Areas, Country |
| Contact | Justice_Analysts@gov.scot |
Data quality
Completeness
This data are from the same source and follow the same quality assurance processes as Domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland. Data is presented at a national (Scotland) level, across the 13 police divisions in Scotland (covering all 32 local authorities).
Number of incidents of domestic abuse and rates per 10,000 population are also presented by local authority area. Mid-year population estimates from the National Records of Scotland are used.
Uniqueness
Not assessed.
Consistency
From 2024-25, domestic abuse aggravated crimes and offences are now recorded on Police Scotland’s new crime management system (UNIFI), instead of the iVPD. Given this, it is no longer possible to report on the proportion of domestic abuse incidents that involved a crime or offence. Furthermore, it is not possible to provide a like-for-like comparison with previous years.
In terms of geographical comparisons, definitional and legislative differences, as well as differences in counting practices mean that it is not possible to compare these statistics across national and international boundaries.
Timeliness
This data covers incidents recorded over 12 months between 1 April to 31 March, for 2024-25.
The statistical bulletin is published as soon as possible after the end of the year in question. This is to allow Police Scotland’s statisticians to collate the required information, as well as the time needed to allow for quality checking the data. The publication date is advertised four to six weeks in advance on the Scottish Government’s Official Statistics: forthcoming publication calendar.
The datasets here will be updated soon after the bulletin’s publication date.
Validity
Domestic abuse recorded by the police does not reveal the true incidence of all domestic abuse in Scotland, as not all incidents are reported to the police. There are a number of reasons for domestic abuse being under reported, including victims experiencing fear and shame as a result of the incident. Under reporting may also be caused by a perpetrator physically preventing a victim reporting the domestic abuse. This data is used in conjunction with findings on partner abuse from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey to inform evidence-based policy.
Accuracy
As outlined above, these statistics are based upon returns made by Police Scotland to the Scottish Government, and are a by-product of administrative processes, which undergo further quality assurance work.
Quality management
This data is based on Police Scotland’s management information which has undergone further quality assurance work.
Care is taken when processing, quality assuring and analysing the data, however this is occasionally subject to the inaccuracies that are inherent in any large administrative recording system.
Additional details
Revisions
These figures are not routinely revised, however any changes or corrections made to previously published data are suitably explained in line with the Scottish Government’s guidance on Producing Official Statistics.
Confidentiality policy
This dataset does not contain any personal information. Results are published on an aggregated level.