Police‑recorded homicides in England and Wales have fallen to their lowest level in more than 40 years.
The Office for National Statistics said 499 homicides were logged in the year to September 2025, a 7 percent drop from the previous 12 months and the smallest annual total since 1983, when 482 cases were recorded.
The decline was driven largely by fewer killings involving knives or other sharp objects.
Such deaths fell 23 percent to 174 over the same period.
Other indicators of violent crime also eased. Recorded knife‑related offenses dropped 9 percent to 50,430, while firearm‑related crimes fell 9 percent to 4,851.
The figures come as British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood moves ahead with plans to establish a new National Police Service, which the Home Office has described as the most significant policing reform in two centuries.
Mahmood said the new body would unite specialist skills, talent and advanced technology under a single command structure.
