Welsh burglary rate amongst lowest in UK

Wales has some of the lowest burglary rates in the UK, according to new figures released by UK CrimeStats, using data gathered by the Economic Policy Centre.

Dyfed-Powys Police records the second lowest number of reported burglaries (109) across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Dyfed-Powys, North Wales and Gwent are in the top 10 areas with the lowest burglary rates in the country, based on data collected from more than 40 police forces. South Wales Police came in 21^st place.

The data also reveals that Gwent Police has the highest national proportion of police constables, at 5.43 per 100,000 residents. The national average is 1.38 constables per 100,000 residents.

Gwent Police has the second highest proportion of police community support officers (PCSO) nationwide, followed by Dyfed-Powys (4^th highest) and South Wales (5^th highest).

Nationally, theft from residential property dropped by almost 100,000 reported incidents in the past 12 months.  The figures reveal that from July 2018 to June 2019 there were more than 414,400 reported incidents, and from July 2019 to June 2020 this dropped to 320,120 burglaries – a 22.75% fall.

The research is presented by UK CrimeStats – a leading crime data research and analysis platform – and covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Responding to the new data, Greg Wilson, founder of Quotezone.co.uk says: “The figures reveal that Wales has some of the lowest burglary rates in the UK, and interestingly there does seem to be some correlation with the number of police officers – Gwent Police has almost four times as many as the national average, for instance.

“It won’t come as a surprise to learn that 2020 has seen a fall in the number of burglaries in both Wales and other parts of the country, with the lockdown and work-from-home orders serving as a significant deterrent that has helped to reduce the total number of break-ins in the UK by almost 100,000 year-on-year.

“However, the fact that an average of 800 burglaries still took place in Wales each month during lockdown, even when the Welsh Parliament’s most stringent quarantine measures were in place, highlights that break-ins remain a very real risk for homeowners and tenants alike.

“Some policyholders might be a little more inclined to forgo home insurance now that they’re home most of the time, but this data makes it clear that the risks a good home insurance policy will protect you against haven’t gone away.  Our comparison site allows you to check a wide range of providers to help you get a competitive price on the policy that suits you.”