UP’s crime rate 28.5% lower than national avg, shows NCRB data

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh recorded a crime rate significantly lower than the national average in 2024, according to the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Wednesday.

The NCRB figures show that while the all-India crime rate stood at 252.3 cognizable crimes per lakh population among the country’s 28 states and eight Union Territories, UP recorded a crime rate of 180.2 cases per lakh population — nearly 28.5% lower than the national average.

Despite registering the highest number of total crimes in the country due to its massive population base, UP stood relatively lower in the rankings when crime figures were adjusted against population size. The state ranked 21st among the 28 states and eight Union Territories in terms of overall crime rate.

According to the data, UP registered a total of 4,30,552 cognizable crimes in 2024 under the IPC and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. These included 2,21,615 IPC cases and 2,08,937 BNS cases.

Officials said the distinction between total crime numbers and per capita crime rate was significant in understanding the law and order situation in large states. They noted that highly populated states naturally report higher absolute numbers, while crime rate per lakh population provides a more balanced comparative indicator.

Among the states, Kerala recorded the highest crime rate at 513 cases per lakh population in 2024, while among Union Territories, Delhi topped the list with 1,258.5 cases per lakh population.

Several states with far smaller populations than Uttar Pradesh recorded substantially higher crime rates. Telangana recorded 497.7 cases per lakh population, Haryana 368.5, Odisha 366.9 and Madhya Pradesh 321.6 cases per lakh population.

Similarly, Maharashtra, with a population of around 13.5 crore — nearly half that of UP — recorded a significantly higher crime rate of 300 cases per lakh population.

The NCRB data also shows that Uttar Pradesh’s performance remained relatively better than the national average even in 2023. While the all-India crime rate in 2023 stood at 448.3 cases per lakh population, UP had recorded 335.3 cases per lakh population, over 25% lower than the national average that year as well.

The latest figures come amid improvements in policing, use of technology-driven surveillance systems, crackdown on organised crime syndicates and faster filing of chargesheets in criminal cases in the state, said an officer.

UP also recorded a chargesheeting rate of 76.7% in 2024, marginally above the national average of 75.6%, indicating that police filed chargesheets in more than three-fourths of the registered cases.