The Scottish city that was named 'most dangerous' with highest crime rate
There were more than 52,000 crimes reported in the city over the past year.
No matter where in Scotland you are, crime is unfortunately a reality of life. However, some areas of the country have higher crime rates than others.
The Scottish Government recently shared its Recorded Crime in Scotland report. The document details the statistics on crimes and offences recorded across the country between 2024 and 2025.
As reported by the Daily Record, the areas of Scotland with the highest and lowest crime rates were named as part of the report. Coming in at number one as the most dangerous in the country was Glasgow.
In 2024-25, Glasgow City recorded a crime rate of 829 per 10,000 population. This is significantly higher than the nationwide average of 545 per 10,000 people.
According to the report, there were 52,406 crimes recorded by the police in Glasgow in 2024-25. This is an increase of around four per cent from the previous year, though approximately one per cent lower than the figure in 2015-16.
Of these crimes, 12,060 of them were categorised as non-sexual crimes of violence—an increase of two per cent from the previous year. These crimes include: common assault, other non-sexual violence, serious assault and attempted murder, domestic abuse, robbery, death by dangerous driving, and murder and culpable homicide.
Glasgow
In Glasgow, there were 10,330 cases of common assault recorded by the police in 2024-25. This is a rise of three per cent from the previous year, and an increase of 12 per cent from 2015-16.
Meanwhile, there were 600 cases of other non-sexual violence and 538 cases of serious assault and attempted murder over the past year. There were also 307 robberies, 269 cases of domestic abuse, 11 cases of murder and culpable homicide, and five cases of death by dangerous driving.
Elsewhere, there were 19,055 crimes of dishonesty recorded by the police in 2024-25—an increase of six per cent from 2023-24 but a fall of five per cent from 2015-16. Crimes of dishonesty are made up of shoplifting, other theft, fraud, housebreaking, theft of a motor vehicle, other dishonesty, theft from a motor vehicle, and theft by opening lockfast places.
Over the past year, there were 7,475 cases of shoplifting, 6,068 cases of other theft, and 2,476 cases of fraud recorded in Glasgow. Meanwhile, there were 1,015 housebreakings, 790 cases of theft of a motor vehicle, 497 cases of theft from a motor vehicle, 556 cases of other dishonesty, and 178 cases of theft by opening lockfast places.
Another category of crime are crimes against society, of which there were 13,459 recorded by the police in Glasgow over the past year—a rise of five per cent from the previous year.
Crimes against society consist of crimes against public justice, possession of drugs, supply of drugs, weapons possession (used), weapons possession (not used), and other crimes against society.
In Glasgow, there were 5,147 crimes against public justice, 4,596 cases of drug possession, and 1,051 cases of drug supply recorded by the police.
There were also 1,614 cases of weapons possession (used), 972 cases of weapons possession (not used), and 79 cases of other crimes against society.
Meanwhile, in Scotland's largest city, there were 5,539 crimes of damage and reckless behaviour recorded by the police in 2024-25—a fall of seven per cent from 2023-24. Damage and reckless behaviour is made up of vandalism, reckless conduct, and fire-raising.
Across the past year, there were 4,542 cases of vandalism in Glasgow recorded by police. There were also 584 cases of reckless conduct and 413 cases of fire-raising.
In terms of sexual crimes, there were 2,293 recorded by police in Glasgow in 2024-25. This is an increase of 16 per cent from 2023-24, and an increase of 34 per cent from 2015-16.
The full Recorded Crime in Scotland report can be found on the Scottish Government website.