A 12-month rolling figure shows the lowest number of teenage knife deaths since December 2014
Knife deaths in London are at their lowest level since Sir Sadiq Khan took office new analysis by MyLondon has found. Though the Mayor of London has overseen a rise in the total number of knife offences since he was elected in May 2016, the 12-month rolling count for homicides involving knives or sharp instruments reached 54 this May, last equalled in September 2015 under Boris Johnson.
This June’s rolling total also shows the lowest number of under 25s stabbed to death since January 2014 when 15 were recorded, while the figure for teenagers was eight, which was last equalled in December 2014. We analysed homicide statistics from the London datastore, stretching back to January 2003.
When it comes to crime in the capital, the Mayor has said: “We’re making good progress, but there’s clearly much more to do. That’s why there will be no let-up in our city-wide effort to further reduce serious violence and protect more Londoners as we continue building a safer London for everyone.”
How does London compare to England and Wales?
Though the figures on fatalities show improvement, London remains the worst place in the country for overall knife offences, with a rate of 172 per 100,000 population between July 2024 to June 2025. Cleveland (147) and West Midlands (142) police forces were the next worst affected areas.
When looking at the overall number of recorded knife crimes, these fell from 2012 in the run-up to 2016, then started rising again, hitting a peak of 15,600 incidents in 2019. There was a sharp drop during the pandemic, but it has since edged towards the old peak, standing at 15,000 in 2023-24.
How much knife crime is the Met solving?
MyLondon also calculated how often the Met Police is solving knife crime by dividing the number of positive outcomes by the total number of knife crime offences. Though the figure is half of what it was in the 2015-16 financial year (28 per cent), so far this year the rate is around 16 per cent, twice as good as last year and closer to the pandemic figures.
The Met describes a positive outcome as “where a suspect has been identified and faces justice through methods such as a community resolution, charge, and a penalty notice”.
How are knives used?
Another way we looked at knife crime trends using Met Police crime data was by calculating the monthly average in each year. This allowed us to include more recent data and showed that while there has been a general upwards trend for knives being used to threaten, the number of offences where knives were used to injure is down to 316 a month, compared to a peak of 392 in 2017/18.
Average monthly robbery figures reached the highest level in the Mayor’s tenure for 2024/25 (819 a month), but so far this financial year the figure has dropped to 678 a month (with data available from April to August 2025). It is worth bearing in mind though, that figure could change dramatically within the rest of the reporting period.
How old are knife crime victims?
Just as the data shows knife deaths are falling, especially in the lower age categories, there has also been a year on year downward trend in younger victims of any knife offence. However, this has not come without a recent surge in the number of 10-17-year-olds who were knife victims, overtaking the 18-25-year-old category between 2022 and 2024.
More recently it has dropped back below, but there is still work to be done to bring the figures down again.
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