Most forms of property crime fell dramatically across Ireland in the first quarter of 2025, with residential burglary down 17% and theft from person dropping 30% compared to the same period last year, according to provisional statistics released by An Garda Síochána.

The figures, covering January to March 2025, show substantial decreases across most crime categories, with aggravated burglary falling 29%, robbery from establishments down 25%, and criminal damage reducing by 16%. Theft from vehicles dropped by 32%, with Dublin region recording over 300 fewer incidents of theft from person.

However, fraud offences bucked the trend with a striking 61% increase nationally. Shopping and online auction fraud surged by 200%, whilst account takeover fraud rose 128% and bogus tradesman fraud increased 107%. Only phishing, vishing and smishing offences decreased, falling by 52%.

Residential Burglary Hits Historic Lows

March 2025 recorded the lowest level of residential burglary since 2021, despite the absence of Covid-19 movement restrictions that previously kept people at home. The Q1 figures represent an average of approximately 15 burglaries per day across Ireland's 26 counties.

Since Operation Thor began targeting organised crime gangs and repeat offenders in 2015, residential burglaries during winter months have dropped by 75%. The multi-strand approach emphasises crime prevention alongside enforcement activity based on intelligence and burglary trends.

Retail Crime Operations Show Mixed Results

Operation Táirge, launched in December 2023 to combat organised retail crime, has led to increased arrests and court proceedings. In the 12 months to April 2025, arrests for shop theft rose 8% to over 8,300, whilst court proceedings increased by more than 30% to over 20,200 charges and summonses.

Despite these enforcement efforts, theft from shops decreased only marginally by 6% nationally, with Dublin region recording a slight 2% increase.

Road Safety Improvements

Fatal and serious road traffic collisions decreased substantially, with fatal collisions down 22% and serious injury collisions falling 42%. However, non-serious injury collisions increased 21%, and An Garda Síochána still responded to over 11,750 road traffic incidents - equivalent to 130 collisions daily.

Driving while intoxicated offences rose 3%, resulting in approximately 23 arrests daily. Officers issued 31,800 fixed charge notices for speeding and over 39,000 additional notices for various traffic offences including mobile phone use and seatbelt violations.

Long-term Crime Trends

The statistics continue Ireland's sustained reduction in recorded crime. Central Statistics Office figures show a 7% decrease in recorded crime in 2024 compared to 2019, whilst the population increased by 9.3% over the same period. Since 2002, crime has fallen significantly despite a 37% population increase from 3.92 million to 5.38 million.

Crimes against the person fell 5% nationally, with the Southern Region recording the largest decrease at 17%. Sexual offences remained level overall, whilst domestic abuse incidents totalled over 15,300, similar to Q1 2024.

The Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau seized drugs valued at €21.7 million during the quarter, subject to analysis.

These provisional figures are operational and subject to change, with official crime statistics published quarterly by the Central Statistics Office.

Full Statistics Below: