Key findings

• Detection rates for most crimes reported in 2022 were equal to or just below 2021 rates.
• About a fifth (19%) of Sexual offences reported in 2021 had been detected by September 2023 while the detection rate for those reported in 2022 was 9%.
• The detection rate for Fraud crime was significantly lower for 2021 and 2022 than earlier years, with a more than doubling in the volume of this crime from 2020 levels a likely contributory factor here.
• The crime rate in the Dublin Metropolitan region in 2022 was generally higher than other regions, but the rate of detection was lower for a number of offence groups.
• Males were the suspected offender for the majority of detected crime in 2022, particularly for Sexual Offences (97%). Females were the suspected offender in nearly a third of Theft & Related offences and were the suspected offender in a quarter of Fraud & Deception offences.
• Half (51%) of suspected offenders of detected Sexual offences reported in 2022 were aged between 18 and 44 years when the offence took place.

The statistics show that detection rates as measured in September 2023 for crimes reported in 2021 did not significantly change for a number of crime types when compared with the initial detection rates for these crimes as measured in September 2022. For example, 21% of Burglary & Related offences reported in 2021 had  been detected as at September 2023 compared with 20% a year earlier, and the detection rate for Theft & Related offences reported in 2021 increased from 33% when measured in September 2022 to 34% when measured in September 2023. There were some exceptions however with the detection rate for Sexual offences reported in 2021 having risen from 12% when measured at September 2022 to 19% when measured at September 2023, and likewise for Homicide & Related offences going from a 76% to a 87% detection rate.