Crime is taking a huge toll on Britain — costing taxpayers an estimated £33 billion every year, according to new analysis by the Conservative Party.
The figure comes from an updated Home Office model that measures the financial and social costs of crime, including the impact on victims, property damage, and the money spent on prevention.
Violent crime continues to be the biggest burden. Offences where victims are injured cost around £10 billion a year, while incidents involving violence without injury account for another £6.7 billion.
Overall, the Tories say crime costs have risen by £445 million in the past year alone, with violent crime up by £300 million. That brings the total cost to £33 billion — roughly £478 for every person in the UK.
Tory plans: more police, tougher stop and search
The Conservatives are using the figures to push their crime-fighting plans, including a pledge to recruit 10,000 additional police officers over the next three years, funded by £650 million.
They also propose a major crackdown on violent crime hotspots, with intensive patrols across 2,000 high-risk areas — a move they say could prevent up to 35,000 offences.
The party wants to make it easier for officers to stop and search suspected offenders by lowering the threshold for suspicion and expanding “no suspicion” powers. They estimate this would triple the number of stop and searches, from about 535,000 in 2024 to over 1.5 million.
Labour under fire
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Labour of letting law and order collapse, blaming what he called a “soft approach” to criminals.
“It’s never comfortable to put a price on crime,” Philp said, “but these figures expose the scale of Labour’s failure.
They measure not just money lost but lives damaged. Keir Starmer doesn’t have the backbone to take the tough decisions Britain needs.”
He went on to say the Conservatives would “restore certainty” by putting control “back in the hands of the law, not the lawless.”
How the costs add up
The Home Office first developed its cost model in 2018, factoring in:
- Anticipation costs, like security systems and insurance.
- Consequences, such as stolen or damaged property.
- Response, including police and justice system expenses.
Homicide remains the most expensive individual crime, at £3.2 million per case, though low murder rates mean it has little effect on the overall total. Rape costs an estimated £39,360 per incident, while violence with injury averages £14,050, robbery £11,320, and vehicle theft £10,290.
Despite some progress — including record-low homicide numbers (518 cases last year) — other offences are surging. Shoplifting and sexual offences are at record highs, and fraud continues to rise sharply.
Using Office for National Statistics data, the Conservatives calculated that:
- Fraud costs have hit £2.3 billion.
- Rape and sexual offences now total nearly £5.2 billion, up £500 million in the past year.
- Robbery costs stand at just over £1.2 billion.
According to their analysis, the total cost of crime has fallen by £16 billion since 2018, when it was nearly £49 billion. Photo by Cheeseburger296, Wikimedia commons.