Brighton and Hove Crime Rate January 2025 | Monthly Statistics

Brighton and Hove’s January 2025 crime rate of 9.6 per 1,000 residents places the area 35.2% above the UK average of 7.1, a disparity that reflects the city’s unique socio-economic profile. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 29.7% of all incidents, with 813 cases reported—16% above the UK average. This figure may be influenced by the city’s vibrant nightlife and the concentration of younger populations in areas such as the North Laine and Kemptown. Shoplifting, at 1.7 per 1,000, dominated the crime profile with 492 incidents, a rate 174% higher than the UK average. This anomaly aligns with Brighton’s status as a major retail and tourist hub, where high street activity and transient populations may contribute to elevated theft rates. Anti-social behaviour, at 1.4 per 1,000, followed closely with 385 cases, 43% above the UK average, a statistic that could be linked to the city’s dense urban environment and the pressures of seasonal transitions. The seasonal context of January—marked by shorter days, post-holiday retail lulls, and reduced outdoor activity—may have shifted crime patterns toward indoor and social spaces. However, the data also reveals pockets of stability: vehicle crime, for instance, fell 51% below the UK average, due to the city’s robust CCTV coverage and traffic management systems. These contrasting trends highlight the complexity of maintaining public safety in a dynamic urban setting, where localised factors often override national averages.

January 2025 saw a stark rise in ‘other crime’ incidents, surging by 95.1% compared to December—a jump from 41 to 80 cases. This category, which includes a range of non-specific offences, may partly reflect the challenges of categorising incidents in a rapidly evolving urban environment. Bicycle theft also spiked by 40.9%, with 31 reported cases, underscoring the vulnerability of cycling infrastructure in a city where cycling is a primary mode of transport. Conversely, vehicle crime dropped by 38.2%, falling to 68 incidents from 110, a shift that could be linked to the post-holiday period and reduced retail activity. The breakdown also reveals that shoplifting remains a local outlier, with 492 cases (1.7 per 1,000) compared to the UK average of 0.6 per 1,000—a 174% gap that may be influenced by Brighton’s high street retail density and tourist footfall. These trends suggest that while some crime types are stabilising, others are intensifying, requiring targeted interventions.

Brighton and Hove’s crime rate in January 2025 rose by 3.8% compared to December 2024, climbing from 9.3 to 9.6 per 1,000 residents. This increase, though modest, places the area’s monthly crime rate at 88 incidents per day on average—a figure that underscores the persistent demand on local policing resources. When considering the population context, the monthly exposure rate of 1-in-104 residents highlights the frequency with which crime intersects daily life in the district. This ratio, while not inherently alarming, suggests that residents are more likely to encounter crime than the UK average, which would require a separate calculation to confirm. The shift in crime mix from December also reveals a growing emphasis on non-property crimes, with violent and anti-social behaviour accounting for over 43% of total incidents. This contrasts with the previous month’s balance, where property crimes held a stronger share. The population scale further contextualises these figures: with 283,870 residents, the absolute numbers of incidents reflect both the density of the urban environment and the diversity of activities that characterise Brighton and Hove’s social fabric.