Scotland
Burglaries
Key points
- Burglary is the crime that worries most people: a third are worried about being burgled compared with a quarter worried about having their car stolen and a fifth worried about being mugged or otherwise physically attacked.
- The number of burglaries recorded by the police has halved over the last decade.
- In terms of recorded crime, Aberdeen has by far the greatest burglary problem.
- Worry about being burgled is highest in the urban areas, and is somewhat higher among social renters than among those in other tenures.
- The proportion of people who are worried about being burgled is similar at all levels of income and for all social classes.
- See the UK indicator on victims of crime.
Graph 1: Over time
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Graph 2: By LA
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Graph 3: By area
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Graph 4: By income
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Graph 5: By housing tenure
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Graph 6: By social class
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Definitions and data sources
Burglary ('housebreaking') is the crime that most people are worried about. It is also a crime which has a disproportional impact on people on low incomes as they are less likely to have home contents insurance and less likely to be able to replace stolen goods.
The first graph shows the number of burglaries recorded by the police in each year shown.
The second graph shows, for the latest year, how the number of burglaries recorded by the police varies by local authority.
The data source for the first two graphs is the Scottish Executive's publication Recorded Crime In Scotland.
The third to sixth graphs show the proportion of people who are worried about being burgled.
In the third graph, the data is broken down by the type of area using a six category urban-rural hierarchy stretching from the four cities at one end to remote rural areas at the other. The definitions are: 'the four cities': Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen; 'other urban': population between 10,000 and 125,000; 'small accessible': population between 3,000 to 10,000 and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of more than 10,000; 'small remote': population between 3,000 to 10,000 and more than 30 minutes drive of a settlement of more than 10,000; 'accessible rural': population less than 3,000 and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of more than 10,000; and 'remote rural': population less than 3,000 and more than 30 minutes drive of a settlement of more than 10,000.
In the fourth graph, the data is broken down by income quintile.
In the fifth graph, the data is broken down by housing tenure.
In the sixth graph, the data is broken down by social class (omitting those whose social class is not known).
The data source for all third to sixth graphs is the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). To improve statistical reliability, the data in the second to fifth graphs is the average for the three years 2003 to 2005.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: medium. The data itself is considered reliable. However, the number of crimes recorded by the police is substantially less than the number of crimes actually committed because not all are reported to the police. Furthermore, it may be that recording practices vary over time or between authorities.