India recorded 5.89 million crimes in 2024, down 5.7% from 6.24 million in 2023, according to the India Crime Report 2024 released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Wednesday. The crime rate per 100,000 people in 2024 was 419, down from 448 in 2023 and the lowest since 2019, when that number was 385.
Offenses registered under the Indian Penal Code and the Bharatiya Nyai Sanhita Act – the new version of the Indian Penal Code, which came into force in mid-2024 – were responsible for most of the decline in overall crimes. Compared to the previous year, IPC/BNS crimes decreased by 0.22 million to 3.54 million in 2024. Special and Local Law (SLL) crimes decreased by 0.14 million to 2.34 million.
Certainly, the rate of charging and waiting before the police as well as conviction in court remained similar to 2023 levels. The charge rate for IPC/BNS offenses decreased marginally: from 72.7% in 2023 to 72.1% in 2024. The dependency rate increased from 29.2% to 31.2%. The charge rate for SLL crimes increased slightly from 91.9% to 92.7%; But so did the trend: from 27.9% to 28.4%. The conviction rate for IPC and SLL crimes by the courts was 53.3% and 79.3%, respectively, compared to 54% in 2023 and 78% in 2023.
Which individual crimes were most responsible for reducing the overall number? It is difficult to answer this question in 2024 because criminal laws in India changed mid-year and not all heads under BNS have a similar comparison with 2023.
Retaining comparable figures available from 2023 – which account for about 90% of IPC/BNS crimes – total IPC/BNS crimes fell by 80,557 to 3.28 million. Of the seven main heads of IPC/BNS crime, the crimes most responsible for the decline in the total number of this category are “crimes against the human body”, which decreased by 188,777 to 909,006; “Miscellaneous IPC Offences,” which decreased by 97,657 to 733,480; and “crimes against property,” which decreased by 76,948 to 801,359.
The total number shows a relatively modest decline because these large reductions were offset by a growth of 285,824 in the “other IPC offences” category, for which a breakdown is not available.
Crimes related to documents and marks of ownership also rose, but by a modest number from 10,914 to 193,128, with almost the entire growth due to “forgery, adulteration and fraud.”
Major physical crimes (those accounting for a share of at least half a percent of total IPC/BNS crimes) that registered a decline in 2024 are murder, rape, kidnapping and abuse. Homicides fell 2.4% to 27,049; Rape cases fell by half a percent to 29,536; Kidnappings and kidnappings decreased by 15.4% to 96,079; Damages decreased by 30.6% to 441,996. However, the number of unlawful restraint/confinement cases increased by 56% to 50,881. Likewise, deaths due to negligence rose 2.1% to 169,493.
“Reckless driving on a public road” and “Obstructing a public road” are the two largest subheadings within the miscellaneous IPC/BNS offences. Cases recorded in the former decreased by 17% to 435,173 and in the latter by 6.2% to 142,115.
All four of the biggest subheadings under property crime – theft, burglary, burglary and criminal breach of trust – fell in 2024. Theft, the most common crime, of the four crimes fell by 9.8% to 621,945.
Likewise, the number of theft cases decreased by 13% to 23,145. However, the 107,532 cases of burglary recorded this year are only 41 fewer than in 2023. Criminal breach of trust cases fell by 6.6% to 21,251.
SLL heads that have contributed most to the decline in this category (other than the miscellaneous categories) are issues relating to laws relating to alcohol and drugs, environment and pollution, weapons/explosives, and crimes against women and children. Part of this is also because they are among the most common crimes. Alcohol and drug cases decreased by 2% to 1,239,554 cases; Environmental and pollution cases decreased by 16% to 57,670 cases; Weapons and explosives cases decreased by 13% to 67,571; Cases of crimes against women under the ACA decreased by 17.5% 15,117; Cases related to children’s laws decreased by 3.7% to 74,284 cases.
However, there are two other main heads of SLL – IT/IP related laws; Financial and economic laws – recorded growth. Cases within these cases increased by 1.1% and 1.5%, respectively, to 46,840 and 23,262.
The thematic data provided in the report shows that crimes against SCs and STs have also declined. Crimes against SCs decreased from 57,789 in 2023 to 55,698 in 2024. Crimes against SCs decreased from 12,960 in 2023 to 9,966 in 2024.
On the other hand, cybercrime continued to record significant growth, although the rate slowed in 2024. 101,118 cybercrimes were recorded in 2024, an increase of 17% in 2023. Although this rate is significant, it is somewhat lower than the growth recorded in 2023 of 31% and the growth of 24% in 2022.
