Which areas of London have seen the biggest rise in violent crime recently?
Executive summary
London’s recorded violent crime rose to about 252,545 offences for 2023/24, part of a longer-term upward trend from a 2015/16 low of 186,488 (Statista/ONS data) [1]. Borough-level counts and recent reporting point to central and south London boroughs — Croydon, Westminster, Lambeth, Newham, Brent, Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark — as the largest current hotspots for “violence with injury” by raw numbers (year to mid‑2025) [2].
1. What the headline numbers show — more incidents, but a complex picture
Overall recorded violent offences in London increased to roughly 252,545 in 2023/24, continuing a rise from a low in 2015/16 [3] [4] [1]. Statista’s synthesis of ONS/Metropolitan Police figures is clear about the upward direction in recent years, and other aggregators display comparable rises in total recorded crime in 2023/24 [5] [6] versus the prior year [7]. At the same time, some analyses and official summaries point to nuance: London’s rate of violence-with-injury per 1,000 people (26.4) was reported below the England & Wales average (31.9) for the year to March 2025, showing that London’s increases do not necessarily mean it is the most violent place per capita nationally [8] [9].
2. Where borough-level rises are concentrated — central and south show the biggest raw counts
News mapping and borough breakdowns published in 2025 place the largest numbers of “violence with injury” in boroughs with high footfall and dense populations: Croydon led with 3,214 incidents in the year to June 2025, followed by Westminster [10] [11], Lambeth [12] [13], Newham [12] [14], Brent [12] [15], Greenwich [12] [16], Lewisham [12] [17] and Southwark [12] [18] [2]. These are raw incident counts rather than per‑capita rates; Westminster and central boroughs are amplified by tourist and commuter flows, while south and east boroughs show high totals tied to local population and deprivation patterns [2] [19].
3. Different metrics — counts vs. rates vs. injury vs. weapons
Which areas “rise the most” depends on the metric. Several sources emphasize violent crime with injury as a distinct measure; others highlight knife-enabled offences, robbery or acquisitive crime. City Hall and the Mayor’s reports stress that violent crime causing injury has fallen in all 32 boroughs in some recent 12‑month comparisons cited in 2025, even as longer‑term violent offence counts have climbed — illustrating conflicting short‑term and long‑term trends depending on the window used [20] [19]. Knife crime has been a particular focus: London still accounts for a large share of knife offences nationally, even as some recent months show falls in knife incidents and hospital admissions for under‑25s [20] [9].
4. Factors behind the increases and contrasting explanations
Different analyses attribute the rise in recorded violent offences to multiple factors. Improved crime recording practices and administrative changes have been cited as one reason for rising recorded crime over the decade (HMICFRS / Wikipedia synthesis) [9]. Economic and social drivers are also highlighted: the Mayor’s Office cites research linking cost‑of‑living increases to rises in violence, robbery and acquisitive offences [19]. Media coverage points to high-profile retail and phone thefts concentrated in central areas, which can skew perceptions of wider violent crime trends [21] [2].
5. Conflicting signals in 2024–25 reporting — some falls amid overall rises
While the longer trend in recorded violent offences is upward, some recent datasets and official statements report reductions in key categories: the Met reported a 6% fall in violent crime in a year to March in one account, and some knife‑crime measures were down year‑on‑year in early/mid‑2025 [22] [23] [20]. These divergent signals mean judgments about “biggest rises” require careful choice of period and offence type — short‑term drops in serious violence can coexist with higher overall recorded violent‑offence counts [22] [20].
6. What’s missing or uncertain in available reporting
Available sources provide borough counts and citywide totals but do not consistently give comparable, borough‑level percentage‑change maps for identical time windows — so it is hard from these sources alone to declare which boroughs have seen the largest proportional increases versus the largest absolute increases (not found in current reporting). Some outlets present mid‑2025 snapshots while others use financial‑year or rolling 12‑month windows, complicating direct borough‑to‑borough comparison [2] [1] [7].
7. Practical takeaway for readers and policymakers
If you judge “biggest rise” by raw incident totals, central and several south/ east boroughs (Croydon, Westminster, Lambeth, Newham, Brent, Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark) rank highest for violence-with-injury in the year to mid‑2025 [2]. If you judge by per‑capita rates or short‑term changes in serious violence or knife injuries, other official summaries suggest London’s picture is mixed and in some measures improving [20] [9]. Policymakers and reporters should therefore state clearly which metric and which time period they use; the choice materially changes which places look worst or fastest‑rising [19] [9].
If you want, I can pull together a table comparing boroughs by absolute counts, per‑capita rates and year‑on‑year percent changes using one consistent 12‑month window from these sources — tell me which window and metric you prefer.