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Publication - Statistics

Criminal Proceedings in Scotland: 2023-2024

Published
9 December 2025
Directorate
Safer Communities Directorate, +1 more … Justice Directorate
Topic
Law and order, Public safety and emergencies

Statistics on criminal proceedings in Scottish courts and alternative measures to prosecution, 2014-2015 to 2023-2024.

Part of

Supporting documents

5. People convicted by crime or offence

(Tables 4b, 6a, 6b and 6c)

Crime and offence definitions

The statistical classification used in this publication divides breaches of criminal law into crimes and offences. This distinction is made only for reporting purposes. Although the breaches allocated under “crimes” can generally be considered more serious some “offences” have more severe punishments associated with them.

High-level summary

In 2023-24:

  • 54% of total convictions were for crimes and 46% were for offences

Year-on-year change

Between 2022-23 and 2023-24:

  • convictions for All crimes increased by 429 (1%)
  • convictions for Non-sexual crimes of violence increased by 445 (4%)
  • convictions under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 rose 19%, from 756 to 897, the highest total recorded since its’ introduction in 2019-20
  • convictions for Sexual crimes increased by 170 (12%)
  • convictions for Rape and attempted rape rose 19%, from 186 to 221, the highest total amongst comparable records which began in 1989-90 (Chart 6)
  • convictions for Sexual assault rose 15%, from 365 to 421, the highest total amongst comparable records which began in 1989-90 (Chart 6)
  • convictions for Crimes of dishonesty decreased by 92 (2%) (Chart 7)
  • convictions for Damage and reckless behaviour decreased by 104 (6%)
  • convictions for Crimes against society increased by 55 (<1%)
  • convictions for All offences decreased by 4,909 (14%)
  • convictions for Antisocial offences decreased by 737 (7%)
  • convictions for Miscellaneous offences increased by 193 (13%)
  • convictions for Road traffic offences decreased by 4,365 (20%)

Chart 6. Both Rape and attempted rape and Sexual assault convictions [Note 1] have reached a new all-time high in 2023-24.

Rape and attempted rape and Sexual assault convictions in Scottish courts, 2014-15 to 2023-24.

A line chart showing time on the x-axis (the 10 financial years from 2014-15 to 2023-24) and convictions on the y-axis (running from 0 to 450). Two lines show values for Sexual assault and Rape and attempted rape. Convictions for Sexual assault are consistently higher than for Rape and attempted rape. Sexual assault convictions broadly rise across the 10-years, but with substantial fluctuation. In 2014-15 convictions were between 250 and 300, falling to a 10-year low in the pandemic (2020-21) of below 150 before rising to a 10-year high of between 400 and 450. Rape and attempted rape convictions also broadly rise but with substantial fluctuation. In 2014-15, these were between 100 and 150, falling to a 10-year low in the pandemic (2020-21) of between 50 and 100, before rising to a 10-year high of between 200 and 250 in 2023-24.

Notes for Sexual crimes

Note 1. Although Sexual crimes includes more categories, for clarity Chart 6 is limited to just Rape and attempted rape and Sexual assault. These two categories both attract the highest proportion of custodial sentences and have the longest average custodial sentence length.

Change over the 10-year span

Between 2014-15 and 2023-24:

  • convictions for All crimes decreased by 14,225 (29%)
  • convictions for Non-sexual crimes of violence decreased by 2,355 (17%)
  • convictions for Sexual crimes increased by 371 (31%)
  • convictions for Crimes of dishonesty decreased by 6,693 (53%) (Chart 7)
  • convictions for Damage and reckless behaviour decreased by 817 (33%)
  • convictions for Crimes against society decreased by 4,734 (25%)
  • convictions for All offences decreased by 28,861 (50%)
  • convictions for Antisocial offences decreased by 6,146 (38%)
  • convictions for Miscellaneous offences decreased by 897 (35%)
  • convictions for Road traffic offences decreased by 21,818 (56%)

Chart 7. Convictions for Crimes of dishonesty have declined over the long term.

Comparison of convictions in Scottish courts for the most common types of Crimes of dishonesty, 2014-15 and 2023-24.

A clustered bar chart showing numbers of convictions for common categories of Crimes of dishonesty. Each cluster compare the two years 2014-15 and 2023-24. Shoplifting fell from 6,942 in 2014-15 to 2,854 in 2023-24. Other theft fell from 2,341 in 2014-15 to 1,123 in 2023-24. Housebreaking fell from 979 in 2014-15 to 589 in 2023-24. Other dishonesty fell from 1,020 in 2014-15 to 477 in 2023-24. Fraud fell from 602 in 2014-15 to 354 in 2023-24.

Breakdown by age and sex

In 2023-24:

  • males made up 80% (9,286) of convictions for Non-sexual crimes of violence and 96% of convictions for Sexual crimes (1,518)
  • people aged over 40 made up 46% (725) of those convicted of Sexual crimes and 37% (6,320) of those convicted of Road traffic offences
  • people aged 31-40 made up 38% (2,224) of those convicted of Crimes of dishonesty
  • people aged over 30 made up 59% of Weapons possession convictions, compared to 46% in 2014-15 (Chart 8)

Chart 8. Over the longer term, people convicted of weapons possession were older.

Proportion of convictions for Weapons possession in Scottish criminal courts, by age group, 2014-15 and 2023-24.

A clustered bar chart showing the proportion of weapons possession convictions in each age group (under-18, 18 to 21, 22 to 30 and over 30) for the years 2014-15 and 2023-24. Under 18s fell from 5% of convictions in 2014-15 to 2% in 2023-24. Eighteen- to 21-year-olds fell from 17% of convictions in 2014-15 to 14% of convictions in 2023-24. Twenty-two- to 30-year-olds fell from 32% in 2014-15 to 26% in 2023-24. Over 30s rose from 46% in 2014-15 to 59% in 2023-24.

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