Car Theft Statistics UK

How common is car theft? NimbleFins has analysed data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics to learn more about vehicle crime. Here's what we found.

In this article

• Vehicle crime trends
• Worst areas for vehicle theft
• Aggravated vehicle taking

Vehicle crime trends

Is vehicle crime getting worse in England... or better?

Overall, it certainly appears that the rate of vehicle crimes is on the decline. In particular, the rate of thefts from a vehicle has dropped significantly over the past 20 years, from a rate of 9.5 to 3.2 per 1,000 population—a drop of 66%!

And compared to 20 years ago, the rate of thefts of vehicles has also declined, from a rate of 4.6 to 2.2 vehicle thefts per 1,000 population. However, this rate has increased recently. After a low of 1.3 thefts of vehicles per 1,000 people back in 2014 and 2015, in 2024 this had climbed to 2.2, a rise of 67%.

So while you're less likely to experience theft from a vehicle compared to ten years ago, you're now more likely to experience theft of a vehicle.

Repeat vehicle crime

Think that just because your car was stolen or broken into, you're now safe? It's not so—households are regularly repeat victims.

Of vehicle-related thefts in England and Wales, 89% of victimised households were targets once, while 11% were victims two or more times.

In terms of criminal damage to a vehicle, 87% were victims once, and the remaining 13% were victims multiple times.

To protect your vehicle and belongings, be sure to buy car insurance that covers theft.

Worst areas for vehicle theft

In England, there are 6.4 vehicle thefts per 1,000 people each year. Some ares within the country have rates 2X, 3X or even more compared to other regions. Which are the worst areas for vehicle theft, and the best?

In the UK, London has by far the highest rates of vehicle crime, with a rate of 11.7 vehicle crimes per 1,000 population.

A close second is the West Midlands police force area, covering Birmingham, with 11.6 vehicle crimes per 1,000 population.

Greater Manchester, part of the North West, has a much lower rate of 7.0 vehicle crimes per 1,000 population.

The region with the lowest rate of vehicle crime is the South West, with just 3.9 vehicle crimes per 1,000 population—and within this region, Devon and Cornwall has the best rate, with only 2.1 vehicle crimes per 1,000 people.

Aggravated vehicle taking

Shockingly, people are killed every year in incidents of aggravated vehicle taking. And in 2024, the figure jumped up by 40%. In the year ending in March 2024, 7 people were killed by aggravated vehicle taking.

An example of causing death by aggravated vehicle taking could be driving a car dangerously after stealing it, crashing it, and as a result causing fatal injury to someone.

In the years ending 2022 and 2023, five people were killed by aggravated vehicle taking. In previous years, aggravated vehicle taking was named as a cause in dozens of deaths.