Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) reported that recorded incidents increased in 11 of 15 offence groups in the 12 months ending June 2026, in its Recorded Crime Q2 2026 release published on 1 October. The largest annual rise was 11% for Dangerous or Negligent Acts. Fraud, Deception and Related offences rose 9%, Controlled Drug offences 8%, and Weapons and Explosives offences 6%. Sexual offences fell 19%, Homicide and Related offences fell 9%, and Burglary and Related offences fell 6%. These are changes in records within the police system, not a measure of the prevalence of all crime in society. The release covers incidents reported to An Garda Síochána and entered in PULSE; crimes that are not reported or recorded are outside these totals.

The annual rates compare separate 12-month totals ending at Q2 2025 and Q2 2026; they do not describe only April to June. In the annualised table, Dangerous or Negligent Acts rose from 32,127 to 35,804 incidents, a gain of 3,677 or 11%. Controlled Drug incidents increased from 16,002 to 17,330, while Sexual offences declined from 3,951 to 3,189. The CSO separately compared April to June 2026 with the same quarter in 2025. In that three-month table, Robbery, Extortion and Hijacking incidents rose 28% to 633, Controlled Drug incidents rose 15% to 4,517, and fraud incidents reported directly to police by members of the public increased 16% to 3,028. These measures use different windows and should not be combined or compared as if they covered the same period.

Speeding accounted for most of the annual rise in the wider Dangerous or Negligent Acts group. Recorded speeding incidents went from 18,555 to 21,595, a difference of 3,040 or 16%. The CSO said that increase accounted for most of the 11% rise in the wider offence group. The definition can include incidents arising when a person detected for speeding does not comply with the original Fixed Charge Notice. Other detailed offences did not all move in the same direction: Burglary and Related incidents fell by 578 to 8,587, or 6%, while Theft from Shop increased by 1,962 to 35,534, or 6%. Theft from Person declined by 301 to 3,028. Such differences within broad categories show why an overall percentage should not be applied to every offence type.

The number of people recorded as victims of Assault and Related offences was 6,410 in Q2 2026, up 2%, or 116 people, from the same quarter a year earlier. Female victims numbered 2,659, a 4% increase; the 3,751 male victims were virtually unchanged. Recorded victims aged 45 to 59 rose 6% to 1,253. Victims and incidents are distinct measures. The CSO notes that some records do not identify an injured party, so the victim table can differ slightly from the corresponding incident table. Age refers to the victim’s age when the incident took place. The figures describe people associated with reports recorded in this offence group; they are not a count of every victim or every assault in the population.

The CSO compiles these statistics from Garda PULSE administrative incident records, not from a sample survey. Only valid primary incidents assigned to a valid Garda sub-district within Ireland are included. The reporting date, rather than the date an incident occurred, determines its period, so changes in reporting and recording can affect the series. Published totals may be revised as Garda records are updated, reviewed or amended during investigations. Fraud has an extra limitation: while a backlog of financial-institution referrals under Section 19 of the Criminal Justice Act 2011 is being addressed, published figures include only incidents reported directly to Gardaí by members of the public. The CSO warns that under-reporting, particularly for fraud, sexual offences and assault, means recorded totals should not be treated as overall crime prevalence.