Stockton-on-Tees Crime Rate December 2025 | Monthly Statistics

Violence and sexual offences dominate Stockton-on-Tees’ crime profile in December 2025, accounting for 33.8% of all reported crimes. This category alone sits 32% above the UK average of 2.6 per 1,000 residents, highlighting a stark divergence from national trends. The overall crime rate of 10.2 per 1,000 residents places the area 45.7% above the UK average, a disparity consistent with the region’s history as a post-industrial town with complex social dynamics. Seasonal factors likely contribute to this pattern: the Christmas shopping peak, combined with darker evenings and increased alcohol consumption during the festive season, may amplify tensions in public spaces. Shoplifting, at 1.5 per 1,000 residents, is 163% above the UK average, a figure that aligns with the presence of high-footfall retail areas in the town centre. Anti-social behaviour, at 1.4 per 1,000, and criminal damage, at 0.9 per 1,000, further reflect the area’s challenges with community cohesion and property neglect. These patterns suggest that while the local authority has made progress in recent years, systemic issues related to economic deprivation and social fragmentation remain persistent. The dominance of violent crime over property crime—a reversal of typical UK trends—indicates a need for targeted interventions in high-risk areas during the holiday season.

December 2025 saw a 5.2% increase in violence and sexual offences, rising from 675 to 710 incidents. This upward trend, coupled with a 78.6% surge in possession of weapons (from 14 to 25 cases), signals a troubling escalation in confrontational behaviour. The sharp 58.3% decline in bicycle theft (from 12 to 5 cases) may reflect seasonal factors, as colder weather and holiday closures reduce opportunities for such crimes. Meanwhile, theft from the person dropped by 53.8% (from 13 to 6), possibly linked to lower foot traffic in retail areas during the festive period. Despite these decreases, shoplifting remains a persistent issue, with rates 163% above the UK average. This anomaly is likely tied to the town’s retail infrastructure, which sees high turnover during Christmas. The area’s violent crime rate—3.4 per 1,000—far outpaces the UK average of 2.6 per 1,000, suggesting that localised factors such as alcohol-related incidents or youth gatherings in town centres may be exacerbating the problem. Residents concerned about personal safety might consider avoiding poorly lit areas during late-night hours, given the 32% disparity in violent crime rates compared to the rest of the UK.

The crime rate in Stockton-on-Tees fell by 7.1% from 10.9 per 1,000 in November 2025 to 10.2 per 1,000 in December, a decline that may reflect seasonal lulls in certain crime types. However, this reduction does not fully offset the area’s persistent deviation from national averages. On a daily basis, the local authority recorded 68 crimes per day in December, a figure that, while lower than the previous month, remains significantly higher than the UK average when scaled to population size. Over the course of the month, one reported crime occurred for roughly every 99 residents, a ratio that underscores the area’s elevated risk profile. When compared to the UK average of 7.0 per 1,000, Stockton-on-Tees’ 10.2 rate indicates that its residents face a 45.7% higher likelihood of experiencing crime than the national average. This disparity is most pronounced in violent crime, where local rates are 32% above the UK norm, and in shoplifting, where the gap is 163%. The population context—206,800 residents—means that even small percentage changes translate to hundreds of additional crimes, highlighting the scale of the challenge faced by local authorities in addressing systemic issues.