Number of burglaries rose sharply last year, with shoplifting offences also increasing, new figures show

Burglary and related offences rose by 10% in the year to September 2024.

The number of burglaries in Ireland increased sharply last year, driven primarily by a jump in the number of non-aggravated — or weaponless — crimes, according to new statistics.

The latest crime statistics from the CSO show burglary and related offences rose by 10%, with an additional 878 individual incidents recorded in the year to September 2024.

That hike in such crimes was driven by a 23% increase in the south of the country, with the Dublin area showing the lowest relative increase across the country.

Thefts also rose rapidly over the same period, up 7% to 5,331 recorded incidents, of which nearly two-thirds involved the stealing of goods from shops.

Similar rises were seen in more egregious offences, with kidnappings up 16% and weapons and explosives offences jumping by 11% over the 12 months in question.

The majority of those weapons offences were recorded in the Dublin Metropolitan Region, which saw a 16% jump in such incidents.

Public order offences, meanwhile, were also marginally higher over the first nine months of 2024, with an increase of 3% noted.

Other offence categories reported a drop in the number of incidents recorded — with the number of homicides dropping by 10% to 75 for the period in question.

Robbery and sexual offences were also marginally lower year-on-year.

However, the most eye-catching decrease seen was a 6% drop in the number of controlled drug offences, which fell to their lowest levels in five years, with 16,295 offences reported in contrast with the 22,403 seen in 2020.

The CSO said the number of assaults and related offences climbed 3% year-on-year to 6,082 victims, with the majority of those — just under 60% — being male.

The over-60 age cohort for men saw the largest jump in the number of assaults — up 13%. The story was different for female victims however, with the largest increase seen in the 18-29 age group — an additional 44 crimes.