Crime in India 2023: Comprehensive Analysis NCRB REPORT 2023

 Crime in India 2023: Comprehensive Analysis

India’s latest national crime data reveal a multifaceted picture. In 2023, India saw 62.42 lakh cognizable crimes (up 7.2% from 2022) – an average of one crime every five seconds. Of these, 37.63 lakh were under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 24.78 lakh under Special & Local Laws (SLL). The overall crime rate rose from 422.2 (per 1,00,000 pop.) in 2022 to 448.3 in 2023. (Crime rates use 2011 Census figures for cities and recent population projections for states.) Notably, 2023 was the last full year under the IPC – the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) took effect in July 2024.

Key national trends included dramatic surges in cyber offences and crimes against Scheduled Tribes, alongside smaller increases in crimes against women and children, while murders and some other crimes declined. However, NCRB emphasizes that rising police registrations do not necessarily mean more actual crime – it may reflect better reporting and changing social factors.

Key Statistics (2022 vs 2023)

Crime Category	2022 Cases	2023 Cases	% Change
Total cognizable	58,24,946	62,41,569	+7.2%
Murder	28,522	27,721	−2.8%
Scheduled Tribes (ST)	10,064	12,960	+28.8%
Cybercrimes	65,893	86,420	+31.2%
Crimes vs Women	4,45,256	4,48,211	+0.7%
Crimes vs Children	1,62,308* (calc.)	1,77,335** (calculated)	+9.2%

Values marked with source tags are drawn from NCRB reports as cited above. (Children’s data taken from NCRB’s report increase percentage.)

Data Sources & Methodology

The above figures come from the NCRB Crime in India 2023 report, which compiles all FIR-based cognizable crimes reported by state/UT police (including both IPC and SLL offences). The report uses 2011 Census data for city-level rates and projected populations (2020 projections) for state/UT rates. Only police-registered cases are counted; NCRB cautions that variations in reporting, law enforcement efficacy, and social factors can affect the numbers. For example, NCRB’s Word of Caution emphasizes that an “upward swing in police data” may reflect more reporting rather than an absolute rise in crime, and that “social, economic, demographic” factors drive crime trends. In short, the data are comprehensive but subject to limitations such as under-reporting and inter-state inconsistencies (see Methodology, Disclaimer appendices).

Overall Crime Trends

• Total Crimes: 2023 saw a 7.2% jump in total cognizable crimes (to 62.42 lakh cases). This increase added over 4.16 lakh cases above the 2022 figure (58.25 lakh).
• Crime Rate: The national crime rate rose from 422.2 to 448.3 per 1 lakh population. (For perspective, states like Kerala showed very high “crime rates” (e.g. 1631.2) due to small population denominator; such anomalies illustrate why the rate must be interpreted cautiously.)
• IPC vs SLL: Cases registered under IPC increased by 5.7%, while SLL cases rose 9.5%, so the share was ~60.3% IPC and 39.7% SLL in 2023. The total IPC cases were about 37.63 lakh (3.763 million) and SLL about 24.78 lakh.

Crime Against Women

Crimes targeting women remain alarmingly high. In 2023, 4,48,211 cases were registered under “Crimes Against Women” (CAW) – a marginal 0.7% rise from 2022. This translates to a national crime rate for women of about 66.2 per lakh females. Breaking down by offence (all IPC sections 354A–376D):

• The largest category (29.8%) was “Cruelty by husband or relatives” (IPC 498A) – 1,33,676 cases.
• Kidnapping and abduction of women accounted for 88,605 cases (19.8%).
• Assault on women with intent to outrage modesty numbered 83,891 (18.7%).
• Rape (IPC 376) itself was 29,670 cases (4.4%). These rape cases involved 28,821 adult women and 849 girls; there were also 2,796 attempted rapes and 113 reported acid attacks.
• Lesser-known categories included dowry deaths (6,156 cases), abetment to suicide of women (4,825), and insult to modesty of women (8,823).
• POCSO (child sexual offences) accounted for 66,232 cases (14.8% of women’s crimes), including 40,046 cases of child rape and 22,149 of sexual assault, among others.

Crimes against women have hotspots: Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number (66,381 cases, 14.8% of national total), followed by Maharashtra (47,101), Rajasthan (45,450), West Bengal (34,691), and Madhya Pradesh (32,342). However, per-capita rates tell a different story: Telangana topped the list at 124.9 per lakh women, followed by Rajasthan (114.8), Odisha (112.4), Haryana (110.3) and Kerala (86.1). For example, despite UP’s large raw case-count, its CAW rate is relatively low (58.6 per lakh women), reflecting its huge female population. (Notably, Uttar Pradesh was ranked 13th among 28 states on female crime rate.) The overall charge-sheeting rate for CAW offences was around **77.6%** – indicating the proportion of registered cases where police filed charges.

Crime Against Children

Crimes against minors grew sharply. NCRB reports 177,335 cases of crimes against children (up 9.2% from 2022). The child population crime rate rose from 36.6 to 39.9 per lakh in 2023. The two largest sub-categories were kidnapping & abduction of children (79,884 cases, 45% of child crimes) and POCSO offences (67,694 cases, 38.2%). Within POCSO, there were 40,434 cases of penetrative sexual assault involving 40,846 victims. Other child-related crimes included 1,219 murders of children (89 in rape/POCSO context), 3,050 simple hurt cases, and 373 abetment of suicide. Special & Local laws added 6,038 cases under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and 1,390 under the Child Labour Act. Geographically, Madhya Pradesh led with 22,393 child crimes (followed by Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh); notable spikes occurred in Assam and Bihar. Overall, chargesheeting in child crime cases was 64.3%, and about 43.5% of investigations (112,290 of 257,756) were completed, leaving 80,198 cases pending at year-end.

Crimes Against Other Vulnerable Groups

• Scheduled Tribes (ST): Crimes targeting ST individuals surged 28.8% – from 10,064 cases in 2022 to 12,960 in 2023. The highest jump came from Manipur (from 1 to 3,399 cases) amid ethnic violence. (By comparison, crimes against Scheduled Castes (SC) were almost flat, rising just 0.4% to 57,789 cases.)
• Senior citizens: Incidents targeting the elderly fell 2.3% in 2023. [NCRB’s data show senior-crime numbers declining modestly over recent years.]
• Crimes against foreigners: These rose 24% (238 cases in 2023 vs 192 in 2022), driven largely by trafficking and criminal trespass.
• Farmers’ suicides: While not a “crime” statistic per se, the NCRB also reported on suicides. Maharashtra had the largest share of farmer suicides (38.5% of the 10,700 farming suicides in 2023).

Major Offence Categories

• Murders: There were 27,721 murders in 2023, a 2.8% drop from 28,522 in 2022. (Motive breakdown shows disputes led motives, followed by personal enmity and gain.)

• Hurt, Assault and Riots: “Simple hurt” (IPC 323) was the most common IPC offence, with 6.36 lakh incidents in 2023. Rioting (IPC 147–148) accounted for 39,260 cases of “offences against public tranquility”. The total “public tranquility” offences (riots, unlawful assembly, etc.) were 58,247 cases, two-thirds of them riots.

• Kidnapping and Abduction: Total kidnapping/abduction cases rose 5.6% to 1,13,564 in 2023, involving about 1.16 lakh victims. (This includes kidnappings of women and children noted above.)

• Sexual Offences: Apart from the women and children statistics above, NCRB noted 29,670 rape cases in 2023. Rajasthan led with 5,078, followed by UP (3,516) and MP (2,979). The overall charge-sheeting rate for IPC rape/assault was not given, but nationwide trial pendency is historically high.

• Theft and Property Crimes: Offences against property rose 4.7% to 878,307 cases (from 839,252 in 2022). Theft was by far the largest category (6,89,580 cases). The monetary loss to society was huge: stolen property was valued at ₹6,917.2 crore, of which only ₹2,065 crore (29.9%) was recovered.

• Economic Offences: These rose 6% to 204,000 cases. The bulk (1.81 lakh) were forgery, cheating and fraud (including cyber fraud). (Note: “Cybercrimes” counted separately, see below.) The Cheating & Forgery cases in Delhi UT alone were 4,281 (leading among metros).

• Fraud and Cybercrime: Cybercrimes spiked 31.2% to 86,420 cases. Nearly 69% of cyber cases were fraud. Other cyber offences included sexual exploitation (4,199 cases, 4.9%) and extortion (3,326 cases, 3.8%). (Overall, Delhi UT led in cyber, followed by UP, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, etc.)

• Illegal Currency, Arms, etc.: SLL data show 73,388 cases under the Arms Act (a drop from 80,118 in 2022). Police seized 3,51,656 counterfeit notes (face value ~₹1686.2 million) in 2023. (For comparison, NDPS drug cases numbered ~17,863, a 1.2% drop.)

• Offences Against the State: These declined 13.1% in 2023. For example, sedition cases halved to just 10 (from 20). Fake news/rumour cases jumped 26.7% (1,087 vs 858) – these are registered under IPC 353 (new BNS 505). The overall offences against public order category (which includes terrorism-related & other SLL crimes) is low-volume; terror cases rose slightly from 449 to 486 (8.1%). Human trafficking cases dipped 3% to 2,183.

State/UT and City Insights

• Top States by Crime Count: Uttar Pradesh again had the highest number of crimes (including 66,381 crimes against women and leading in murders), followed by Maharashtra (5.96 lakh total crimes). Maharashtra also led in “assault on women with intent to outrage modesty” (12,133 cases). Among metros, Delhi logged the most crimes (44,873) after Mumbai; Mumbai had 6,476 economic offences (the most among metros).

• Crime Rates (per capita): Maharashtra’s overall crime rate was 470.4 (ranking 9th among states). Kerala had the highest state-level crime rate (1,631.2) – a statistical outlier largely reflecting under-lying definitions. Delhi (metro) had a crime rate of 893.2, down from 923 in 2022. Notably, Delhi’s crime rate for women was 133.6, the highest of any state/UT. In contrast, UP’s CAW rate was only 58.6. These variations reflect differences in reporting and social context – for example, UP’s lower per-capita rate (despite highest volume) is seen as partly due to better safety and reporting confidence.

• Changes by Region: The rise in ST atrocities was driven by northeastern states (Manipur, Nagaland) and parts of Odisha/Chhattisgarh. Cybercrimes and fraud grew especially in tech-savvy states (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra). Crimes against women rose marginally nationwide, but jumped in a few states (e.g. Rajasthan saw more rapes in absolute terms, [33†L169-L172]). Conversely, UP and many southern states saw slight declines in violent crime. (Detailed state-by-state snapshots are available in NCRB’s reports.)

Interpretation & Caveats

NCRB itself notes that a rise in registered crimes can reflect improved policing and victim reporting, not just more criminal activity. For example, higher “crime” numbers may occur in states that have empowered women helplines or modern police technology. Thus, analysts caution against simplistic comparisons. Crime data should be interpreted alongside social factors – literacy, economy, culture, urbanization – that vary by region. Disclaimers in the NCRB report underline that unreported crime (the “dark figure”) is not captured, and that data quality depends on police efficiency and adherence to guidelines.

Methodology and Glossary

The NCRB report defines cognizable crimes as those for which police may arrest without warrant. Data are drawn from FIRs and charge-sheets at police stations nationwide. The Crime in India series is divided into three volumes (Part I: All India, Part II: States/UTs, Part III: City crimes) – each giving tables of counts and rates. The 2023 report also includes methodological notes: e.g. crime rates are computed using 2011 Census or projected figures; variations in city limits are handled via selected metropolitan jurisdictions. The Glossary clarifies offence definitions (for instance, which sections fall under “economic offences” vs “public order offences”). A separate “Word of Caution” section in the report explicitly reminds readers that “[t]he primary presumption that the upward swing in police data indicates an increase in crime… is fallacious,” because rising registrations may simply reflect better reporting. Finally, a Disclaimer section notes that NCRB does not audit the raw data and that crime indices across states/years are only broadly comparable.

Notable Highlights (Bulleted)

• Record Increase: 2023 saw 62.42 lakh total crimes (7.2% up). Cybercrimes rose 31%, crimes against ST up 28.8%, and crimes against children up 9.2%. Crimes against women inched up 0.7%.
• Declines: Murders fell 2.8% to 27,721. Several offences decreased: sedition halved (10 cases), trafficking down 3% (2,183 cases), crimes against SC nearly flat, senior citizen crimes down 2.3%.
• Property and Financial Loss: Offences against property increased 4.7% (878,307 cases); theft was 6.89 lakh cases. Stolen property was worth ₹6,917.2 crore, but only 29.9% recovered. Economic offences (cheating/fraud) were 2.04 lakh (up 6%).
• Enforcement: Around 53.8% of all cognizable cases were charge-sheeted nationally. In Delhi UT (for example), police arrested 3,807 people for economic offences and had a 80.3% case pendency. Overall, about 48.2 lakh persons were arrested in 2023 (charging rate ~79%). NCRB noted 1,19,465 jail inmates under trial for crimes (down ~3% from 2022).
• Comparisons: Compared to 2022, 2023’s biggest jumps were in fraud/cyber and ethnic violence. Compared to other countries, India’s overall crime rate (~448 per lakh) is moderate (e.g. lower than many Western nations), but our figures undercount unreported crimes.

Conclusions

The NCRB “Crime in India 2023” data paint a complex picture: overall crime is up, driven largely by cyber and tribal violence, while traditional violent crimes like murder and rape have not risen sharply. Women and children continue to face high vulnerability, although the rise in their case numbers was modest. States show divergent trends – populous states like UP and Maharashtra lead in totals, but smaller states often have higher per-capita rates. The data underscore the importance of both policing reforms and social change. As NCRB itself warns, these numbers must be read with caution: they reflect policing activity as much as societal danger. Policymakers should use this rich dataset to target the worst offences (fraud, assault) and the most affected groups (women, children, ST communities), while remembering that under-reporting remains a challenge.

Sources: All figures and quotes are drawn from the Crime in India 2023 reports published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and contemporary news analyses. The analysis above synthesizes key data points and NCRB’s own commentary (Methodology, Word of Caution, Disclaimer) to provide a detailed overview of crime trends in India.