What are the latest ONS crime victim statistics by ethnic group 2023 and 2024?
Executive summary
The latest available Office for National Statistics (ONS) and UK government compilations show that most homicide victims in England and Wales remain White (71.4% in year ending March 2023) while Black victims are disproportionately represented by population size (16.9% of homicide victims in year ending March 2023; three‑year average homicide rates show Black victims ~39.8 per million vs White 8.5 per million) [1] [2]. Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) and Police Recorded Crime produce ethnicity breakdowns up to 2023/24; the ONS publishes tables covering 2012–2024 and points readers to Table D1 in Crime in England and Wales: Annual Trend and Demographic Tables for victimisation by ethnic group [3] [4] [2].
1. What the official UK stats actually provide — scope and headline figures
ONS and related government pages publish victim statistics broken down by ethnic group from two main sources: the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and Police Recorded Crime (PRC). The ONS archive explicitly covers 2012–2024 breakdowns and points users to Table D1 of its annual trend and demographic tables for proportions of people who were victims by ethnicity [3]. The Ethnicity Facts and Figures site highlights that in the year ending March 2023, 16% of people aged 16+ said they had been a victim of crime at least once in the last year, and the Home Office Homicide Index shows that 71.4% of homicide victims (where ethnicity was known) were White and 16.9% were Black for that year [5] [1].
2. Disparities become clearer when adjusting for population — rates, not raw counts
Multiple UK sources stress the need to assess rates per population, not raw counts. The Statistics on Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice System shows in the three years to March 2024 average homicide rates per million were over four times higher for Black victims (39.8 per million) than White victims (8.5 per million) or victims of other ethnicities (9.4 per million) — a clearer indicator of disproportionate victimisation risk [2]. Statista’s compilation of ONS figures similarly documents a much higher homicide rate for the Black ethnic group over recent periods [6].
3. What 2023 vs 2024 coverage looks like in practice
Most formal UK releases referenced cover to year ending March 2023, with extended analysis and three‑year averages reported through March 2024 in the 2024 ethnicity and criminal justice summary [1] [2]. ONS transparency pages list data spanning 2012–2024 but the primary published tables (CSEW headline and appendix tables, homicide index) remain the place to extract 2023 counts and three‑year/annualised 2023–24 rates [3] [4].
4. Methodological caveats and gaps you must keep in mind
Government publications and analysts warn about limitations: victim ethnicity is sometimes unknown, survey fluctuations can be large year‑to‑year, and CSEW estimates and PRC capture different phenomena (self‑reported victimisation vs crimes recorded by police). The BJS/NCVS caution in U.S. context about year‑to‑year fluctuation and statistical significance is echoed in UK commentary that users should prefer multi‑year averages for small groups and treat single‑year changes cautiously [7] [2] [3]. ONS and Home Office tables frequently note substantial proportions with unknown ethnicity and differing denominators across datasets [3] [1].
5. Competing perspectives and what different sources emphasize
Official UK statistics emphasise population‑adjusted rates to show disproportionate victimisation for Black groups [2]. Advocacy and research organisations highlight systemic practices that shape both victimisation and recorded contact with police (stop & search, use of force, incarceration disparities), arguing structural factors drive some of the disparities the stats reveal [8] [9] [10]. International US data and analysis (BJS/NCVS, FBI) show parallel themes — victimisation patterns differ by racial/ethnic group and single‑year changes can mask longer trends — but these are separate systems and not direct substitutes for ONS UK figures [7] [11] [12].
6. How to get the exact tables you asked for (practical next steps)
For the precise counts and rates by ethnic group for 2023 and 2024, consult: ONS’s Crime in England and Wales: Annual Trend and Demographic Tables (Table D1 for CSEW by ethnicity) and the Home Office Homicide Index/Ethnicity Facts and Figures homicide pages for year ending March 2023 and three‑year averages to March 2024 [3] [1] [2]. The ONS “Crime statistics by ethnicity or religion 2012 to 2024” page and the ONS FOI guidance list direct datasets to download [3] [4].
Limitations: available sources do not mention a single consolidated ONS table titled “2023 and 2024 crime victim statistics by ethnic group” in one sheet; data must be taken from CSEW tables, Police Recorded Crime and the Home Office Homicide Index and combined carefully, noting unknown/blank ethnicity entries [3] [1] [2].