Overview

• The review concludes that serious assaults and murders involving knives are concentrated in residential settings, with fewer than two such assaults per week occurring in public areas nationwide.
• Robberies involving knives fell sharply when comparing 2020–2024 with 2015–2019, down about 40% in retail spaces and 35% on streets and in open areas.
• Knife seizures rose 28% over the decade to nearly 19,000, while prosecutions for possession increased 14% in the past five years, totaling almost 20,000 cases over ten years.
• Knife-related assaults accounted for 5% of assaults causing harm in 2024, hospital admissions averaged about 15 per month over the decade, and offenders were predominantly male with a heavy 18–34 concentration.
• Overall recorded crime fell 7% in 2024 versus 2019 with further reductions reported in 2025, and recent legal changes raised maximum sentences for key knife offenses.