Crime in Southwark
Recorded crime in Southwark is 1.6 times the England and Wales average. Over 5 years it has risen 18%. The biggest share of the harm comes from violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences). Police data to August 2026.
314,786 residents in 173 neighbourhoods. 2% live in busy town or city centres.
- Safety in the UK
- 2/10High crime
- Safety in the world
- 6/10Average crime
- Living
- 9.3/10Excellent
- 5-year change
- +18%more crimes
Crime over 5 years
Up 18% in 5 years Recorded crimes in Southwark, anti-social behaviour left out.
What is recorded
Crime severity: 1.6× the England and Wales average. 114 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
- Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences): 37% of the harm here
- Robbery: 24% of the harm here
- Burglary: 17% of the harm here
Anti-social behaviour: 32 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 | 5.8 |
| Burglary | 8.5 |
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 29.6 |
| Drugs | 5.9 |
| Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons) | 0.9 |
| Other crime | 1.1 |
| Other theft | 16.5 |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 13.3 |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 9.4 |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 6.4 |
| Public order | 6.8 |
| Bicycle theft | 4.3 |
| Shoplifting | 5.8 |
What crimes are recorded in Southwark
120.9 crimes per 1,000 residents were recorded in Southwark in 2025/26 (England and Wales: 83.2).
Our total for April 2025 to March 2026: 39,181. Home Office recorded crime: 38,043 (3% apart).
Crimes recorded by the police, April 2025 to March 2026. Source: Home Office, police recorded crime by community safety partnership.
Metropolitan Police did not assign 5.4% of the crimes it recorded in 2025/26 to a council area, so these figures are lower than the true count.
| Type | Crimes in 2025/26 | Per 1,000 residents | Change on 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cars stolen | 953 | 3.0 | Up 5% |
| Cars broken into | 1,068 | 3.4 | Down 24% |
| Vehicle tampering | 231 | 0.73 | Down 10% |
| Vandalism to homes | 424 | 1.3 | Down 2% |
| Vandalism to other buildings | 171 | 0.54 | Down 13% |
| Vandalism to vehicles | 439 | 1.4 | Down 25% |
| Arson | 54 | 0.17 | Down 33% |
| Burglary of homes | 970 | 3.1 | Down 3% |
| Burglary of businesses | 801 | 2.5 | Down 10% |
| Homicide (murder and manslaughter) | 9 | - | - |
| Carrying a knife or blade | 147 | 0.47 | Up 48% |
| Carrying other weapons (including guns) | 222 | 0.71 | Up 43% |
| Robbery of people | 1,559 | 5.0 | Down 10% |
| Robbery of businesses | 361 | 1.1 | Up 51% |
| Violence with injury | 2,457 | 7.8 | Down 5% |
| Violence without injury | 4,255 | 13.5 | Up 13% |
| Stalking and harassment | 2,246 | 7.1 | Up 18% |
| Sexual offences | 1,160 | 3.7 | Up 7% |
| Shoplifting | 2,552 | 8.1 | Down 33% |
| Bicycle theft | 1,010 | 3.2 | Down 5% |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 6,468 | 20.5 | Down 5% |
| Drug dealing | 591 | 1.9 | Down 30% |
| Drug possession | 1,429 | 4.5 | Up 34% |
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.
Metropolitan Police area: 13,775 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in 2025/26 (16,285 the year before). This covers the whole police force area, not only Southwark.
Source: Home Office, police recorded knife crime by police force.
Policing under the elected mayor: Sadiq Khan (Metropolitan Police) →
How often crimes lead to a charge
In Southwark, 5% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%).
- Charged or summonsed
- Caution or other action
- Suspect found, not prosecuted
- No suspect identified
- Still open
Show as a table
| Type | Crimes | Charged or summonsed | Caution or other action | Suspect found, not prosecuted | No suspect identified | Still open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 9,890 | 8% | 3% | 52% | 28% | 10% |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 6,857 | 0% | 0% | 4% | 91% | 4% |
| Other theft | 4,954 | 1% | 0% | 9% | 85% | 5% |
| Shoplifting | 3,716 | 5% | 2% | 11% | 77% | 5% |
| Burglary | 2,609 | 3% | 0% | 11% | 82% | 3% |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 2,576 | 1% | 0% | 6% | 91% | 2% |
| Drugs | 2,088 | 18% | 30% | 42% | 3% | 7% |
| Public order | 2,072 | 10% | 0% | 39% | 39% | 12% |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 2,054 | 4% | 1% | 21% | 68% | 5% |
| Robbery | 1,938 | 3% | 0% | 18% | 73% | 6% |
| Bicycle theft | 1,103 | 0% | 0% | 3% | 93% | 3% |
| Other crime | 385 | 13% | 6% | 36% | 24% | 22% |
| Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons) | 266 | 38% | 2% | 28% | 14% | 17% |
Uses the latest outcome police have recorded so far. 6% of these crimes are still open, so the final figures may be a little higher.
Road collisions
Southwark, 2023 to 2025: 935 road collisions a year with someone hurt, 203 of them with someone killed or seriously injured. 10 collisions were fatal in those 3 years.
3.0 a year per 1,000 residents (Great Britain 1.5). 22% of them killed or seriously injured someone (Great Britain 26%).
Collisions on public roads that the police recorded where someone was hurt, counted where they happened, so busy through roads and town centres with few residents come out high. Serious and slight use the Department for Transport's adjusted severity, comparable between police forces. Source: Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Postcode districts in Southwark
Monthly report: Crime in London falls over the year to August 2026
Embed this on your site: a free live safety card for Southwark.
Questions about crime in Southwark
- Is Southwark a safe place to live?
- Southwark 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 Southwark?
- Up 18% over 5 years, from 33,837 recorded crimes a year to 40,018.
- What is the most common crime in Southwark?
- The most common recorded crime is violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences), about 30 per 1,000 residents a year.
- How often does crime lead to a charge in Southwark?
- In Southwark, 5% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%). 63% were closed without a suspect being identified.
- How many burglaries are solved in Southwark?
- Of 2,609 burglaries reported in Southwark between September 2024 and August 2025, 3% led to someone being charged or summonsed and 82% were closed with no suspect identified.
- How many cars are stolen in Southwark?
- In Southwark, the police recorded 953 cars stolen in 2025/26 (April 2025 to March 2026), 3.0 per 1,000 residents, up 5% on the year before.
- Is vandalism common in Southwark?
- 1,034 acts of vandalism to homes, other buildings and vehicles were recorded in Southwark in 2025/26, 3.3 per 1,000 residents, 0.7 times the England and Wales average.
- How many murders were there in Southwark last year?
- 9 homicides (murder or manslaughter) were recorded in Southwark in 2025/26, against 6 the year before.