Almost half of burgled homes were occupied

Nearly half of burglaries occur while the victim is in the home, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office.

Collected for the first time since 2010, the Crime and Victimisation National Household Survey found that 8% of households experienced crime in the 12 months up to September 2015, the lowest level since the survey began in 1998, when it was 12%.

The percentage of households experiencing vandalism in 2015 was 2% compared with 3% in 2010 and 5% in 2006, and the number of households experiencing a burglary was unchanged at 3%.

According to the CSO, there was somebody present in the house as 48% of burglaries were taking place.

More than six-in-10 (62%) households who suffered crime reported it to the gardaí, however, more than four-in-10 (41%) of those who did not said it was because they believed gardaí either would or could do nothing about it.

The same percentage said they did not report the household crime they suffered to gardaí as they did not believe the crime was serious enough or because they did not suffer a loss as a result.

Just 41% of people expressed confidence in the criminal justice system, while there was a rise in the percentage of people who rate the gardaí in their area as poor or very poor — increasing from 13% in 2010 to 18% in 2015.

The survey also revealed that households in urban areas were two-and-a-half times more likely to become victims of crime compared to households in rural areas (10% versus 4%).

Homes in the most affluent areas of the country had the highest rate of victimisation at 13%, compared to around 7% for other areas.

Broken down by region, the level of household crime in Dublin was higher than any other area at 13%, followed by the Midlands (9%), mid-east (8%), the mid-west (7%), while the south-west, south-east and Border regions were all at 6%..

The level of household crime was lowest in the west at 3%.

The survey also documented instances of personal crime, such as theft and assault, and found that 5% of respondents were the victim of such incidents, compared to 4% in 2010.

More than one-in-five (22%) of all victims of theft had a smartphone stolen, while males in the 18-24 age group were the most likely individuals to experience a crime at 7%, compared to 6% of females in the same age group.

More than half (54%) of all crimes against individuals were reported to the gardaí.

People over the age of 65 are more likely to worry about being a victim of crime, with a combined 48% of this age group responding that they were concerned about suffering personal injury, property theft or damage, or both.

Over six-in-10 people (61%) said they do not worry about becoming a victim of crime. People in the 18 to 24 age group were least likely to worry about victimisation, at 24%, compared to 48% of those aged over 65.

The CSO surveyed 12,969 individuals on household crime, while a sample of 21,429 people answered questions on personal crime.