Economic and social cost of crime: Amendments to unit costs

Product Description

This report presents legacy estimates of the economic and social costs of crime for the financial year 2019 to 2020 and should therefore be interpreted as a technical update of previous iterations of the Economic and social cost of crime series (most recently in 2018 which was based on 2015 to 2016 data). The analysis reflects the most robust data sources and methodologies available at the time of development.

Users should note, however, that some components may have since been superseded by subsequent analytical advances. For example, at the time of publication in May 2026, the Home Office’s Economic and social cost of fraud (2026) provides more comprehensive and up to date estimates for fraud related harms, and the Police Activity Survey (PAS) (2025) offers a more current basis for estimating police response costs than the older Activity Based Costing (ABC) data used here.

While this publication remains a valuable historical baseline for understanding 2019 to 2020 costs, users should consult more recent reports where they are available and relevant. The Economic and social cost of crime: Amendments to unit costs provides more up to date unit cost estimates.