Civometry

ONS · Crime in England and Wales: Appendix tables

Possession of weapons (police-recorded)

Year ending March 2026 Final

62,347offences

Possession of weapons (police-recorded) was 62,347 offences in the year ending March 2026, up 8.0% (4,601) from 57,746 in the year ending March 2025.

▲ 8.0% · +4,601 against Year ending March 2025 (year on year)

  1. ONS count
  2. Year ending March 2026
  3. published 23 July 2026
  4. Table A5a
  5. row “TOTAL POSSESSION OF WEAPONS OFFENCES”
  6. column “Apr 2025 to Mar 2026”
  7. cell value 62347

Year ending March 2026 is the highest figure in the published series: 62,347. Rule: highest of the 24 periods published here (Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026).

Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026

Possession of weapons (police-recorded): Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026LabourLabourLabourLabourCoalitionCoalitionConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabour020k40k60k20052010201520202025Year ending March 2003: 36,379 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2004: 39,021 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2005: 40,605 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2006: 39,711 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2007: 38,937 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2008: 37,079 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2009: 35,662 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2010: 28,758 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2011: 26,327 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2012: 23,688 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2013: 19,910 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2014: 20,623 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2015: 21,890 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2016: 25,835 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2017: 31,316 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2018: 39,059 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2019: 46,493 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2020: 47,685 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2021: 44,703 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2022: 49,024 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2023: 57,648 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2024: 58,325 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2025: 57,746 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2026: 62,347 offences · published 23 July 2026
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

Breakdowns

What this measures

Police-recorded offences of possessing a weapon, including knives and firearms, in England and Wales in a 12-month period.

What this doesn’t measure

Offences where a weapon was used, which are counted under violence or robbery, or the level of weapon carrying; these offences are mostly found through police activity.

Important caveat

Police-recorded crime counts offences reported to and recorded by the police. It is affected by whether people report crime and by changes in police recording practice, so it does not measure all crime that happens. The Crime Survey for England and Wales is the better guide to long-term trends in the crimes it covers. Police recorded crime is not designated as National Statistics.

Revision history

No period of this series has been revised since it was first ingested here. Revisions are recorded automatically when a later release publishes a different figure for the same period.

Source

Publisher
ONS
Publication
Crime in England and Wales: Appendix tables
Release
Year ending March 2026, published 23 July 2026
Source file
appendixtablesyemar2026.xlsx
File SHA-256
9e4a930ec090b4b4a7dfda22f6f5f3b418cfa6a034f977ae99977562f8502ac9
Retrieved
4 September 2026
Sheet
Table A5a
Table
Table A5a
Row
TOTAL POSSESSION OF WEAPONS OFFENCES
Column
Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
Cell value
62347
Geography
England and Wales
Unit
offences
API
/api/metrics/prc_possession_weapons · /series · /vintages

Related metrics

Government periods

Change during each government, from the level inherited to the last complete period before it left office. Describes the period; does not attribute cause.

Labour 2024–58,325Year ending March 202462,347Year ending March 2026↑ 6.9%
Conservative 2019–202446,493Year ending March 201958,325Year ending March 2024↑ 25.4%
Conservative 2017–201931,316Year ending March 201746,493Year ending March 2019↑ 48.5%
Conservative 2015–201721,890Year ending March 201531,316Year ending March 2017↑ 43.1%
Coalition 2010–201528,758Year ending March 201021,890Year ending March 2015↓ 23.9%
Labour 2005–201040,605Year ending March 200528,758Year ending March 2010↓ 29.2%

Full comparison with chart

Release
Year ending March 2026 · publication page
Last updated
23 July 2026
Next scheduled release
22 October 2026 (official date)