Is Portsmouth safe? For most residents, students and visitors, yes, but it is one of the two highest-crime places in Hampshire: Portsmouth recorded 23,340 crimes in the 12 months to April 2026, a crime rate of 98.85 per 1,000 people. That is about 57 per cent above the Hampshire average of 62.97 and 61 per cent above the South East (61.44), but about 7 per cent below Southampton (106.50) and almost level with Leicester (97.87). Portsmouth is a dense island city with a naval base, a university, a ferry port and a busy night-time economy, and those things concentrate crime in a small area. The city’s own community safety partnership says recorded crime fell 8 per cent in 2023/24. The figures describe recorded incidents, not the people who live here.
Data: police-recorded crime, 12 months to April 2026, counts and rates from CrimeRate’s analysis of data.police.uk (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary; Hampshire page updated 7 June 2026, checked 31 October 2026); Safer Portsmouth Partnership Strategic Assessment of Community Safety 2023/24 (executive summary published by Portsmouth City Council) and its 2021/22 update; neighbourhood teams from data.police.uk, whose latest month is August 2026. Rates for other cities are from the same CrimeRate release (Bristol page checked 31 October 2026; Oxford checked 30 October 2026). Percentages and shares are our own arithmetic. CrimeRate’s Portsmouth page still shows its 2020 version, so Portsmouth’s own category breakdown and ten-year series are not available for the current release; the category and trend tables below are for Hampshire and say so. Updated 31 October 2026.
What is the crime rate in Portsmouth?
Portsmouth’s crime rate was 98.85 crimes per 1,000 people in the 12 months to April 2026, according to CrimeRate, from 23,340 recorded offences. That is about 1.6 times the Hampshire rate (62.97) and 61 per cent above the South East (61.44). Hampshire as a whole recorded 134,841 offences, so Portsmouth alone accounts for 17.3 per cent of the county’s crime (our arithmetic).
A city rate well above its county is normal. Portsmouth is a compact island city that draws shoppers, students, ferry passengers, sailors and visitors from across south-east Hampshire, so many offences involve people who do not live there. CrimeRate’s rate also uses its own population base, so rates from different websites are not directly comparable. All the rates on this page come from one source and method unless a table says otherwise.
Is Portsmouth the most dangerous place in Hampshire?
No. Portsmouth is second of the 35 Hampshire towns and cities CrimeRate lists, at 98.85 per 1,000 in the 12 months to April 2026. Only Southampton (106.50) is higher. After the two cities there is a clear drop: Aldershot (72.38), Havant (70.24) and Gosport (68.38) are next. Fareham, Portsmouth’s neighbour to the north-west, records 46.29, less than half Portsmouth’s rate.
| Place (Hampshire) | Crimes, 12 months to April 2026 | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Southampton | 30,153 | 106.50 |
| Portsmouth | 23,340 | 98.85 |
| Aldershot | 3,447 | 72.38 |
| Havant | 9,458 | 70.24 |
| Gosport | 5,876 | 68.38 |
| Winchester | 3,478 | 67.22 |
| Eastleigh | 2,332 | 65.83 |
| Andover | 3,772 | 64.20 |
| Totton and Eling | 1,919 | 62.82 |
| Basingstoke | 9,144 | 62.40 |
| Fareham | 5,973 | 46.29 |
| Hampshire | 134,841 | 62.97 |
Source: CrimeRate Hampshire, 12 months to April 2026; the ten highest of 35 places plus Fareham. Portsmouth’s 23,340 offences are more than Aldershot, Havant and Gosport combined (18,781, our arithmetic). Havant and Gosport, both next to Portsmouth, sit close to the county average. For the other big city on the Hampshire coast, read is Southampton safe?
Is Portsmouth safe compared with other UK cities?
Portsmouth’s crime rate of 98.85 per 1,000 in the 12 months to April 2026 is almost level with Leicester (97.87) and about 6 to 9 per cent below Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Southampton, Leeds and Nottingham. It is about 15 per cent above Sheffield and around a fifth above Oxford and Cardiff.
| Place | Per 1,000, 12 months to April 2026 | Compared with Portsmouth |
|---|---|---|
| Westminster (London) | 125.00 | 26% higher |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 9% higher |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 8% higher |
| Southampton | 106.50 | 8% higher |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 8% higher |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 6% higher |
| Bristol | 104.63 | 6% higher |
| Portsmouth | 98.85 | – |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 1% lower |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 15% lower |
| Newcastle | 82.69 | 16% lower |
| Oxford | 80.69 | 18% lower |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 20% lower |
| Hampshire | 62.97 | 36% lower |
| South East | 61.44 | 38% lower |
Source: CrimeRate, 12 months to April 2026 (Portsmouth, Southampton and Hampshire from the Hampshire page and the city list from the Bristol page, both checked 31 October 2026; Oxford checked 30 October 2026, same release). Portsmouth sits in the middle of England’s big-city group rather than at the top. For nearby comparisons, see Southampton, is Brighton safe? and is Bournemouth safe?; for inland cities, is Oxford safe? and is Bristol safe?
What kind of crime is recorded in Hampshire and Portsmouth?
Violence and sexual offences made up 49.1 per cent of crime recorded in Hampshire in the 12 months to April 2026: 66,157 of 134,841 offences, a rate of 30.90 per 1,000, about 15 per cent above the South East rate (26.98). Possession of weapons is the other category clearly above the region, at 38 per cent higher. CrimeRate does not publish Portsmouth’s own category mix for this release, so the table is for the county.
| Category | Hampshire, 12 months to April 2026 | Share of total | Hampshire per 1,000 | South East per 1,000 | Hampshire vs South East |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 66,157 | 49.1% | 30.90 | 26.98 | +15% |
| Shoplifting | 12,856 | 9.5% | 5.99 | 6.88 | −13% |
| Public order | 11,772 | 8.7% | 5.49 | 5.15 | +7% |
| Criminal damage and arson | 10,172 | 7.5% | 4.75 | 5.50 | −14% |
| Other theft | 8,871 | 6.6% | 4.14 | 4.84 | −14% |
| Vehicle crime | 6,424 | 4.8% | 3.00 | 3.22 | −7% |
| Burglary | 5,009 | 3.7% | 2.35 | 2.23 | +5% |
| Drugs | 4,679 | 3.5% | 2.18 | 2.37 | −8% |
| Other crime | 2,789 | 2.1% | 1.30 | 1.61 | −19% |
| Possession of weapons | 2,421 | 1.8% | 1.12 | 0.81 | +38% |
| Robbery | 1,491 | 1.1% | 0.70 | 0.72 | −3% |
| Bicycle theft | 1,434 | 1.1% | 0.69 | 0.68 | +1% |
| Theft from the person | 766 | 0.6% | 0.36 | 0.45 | −20% |
| Anti-social behaviour (not in total) | 16,767 | – | 7.84 | 10.87 | −28% |
Source: CrimeRate Hampshire, 12 months to April 2026. The 13 crime categories add up to exactly 134,841.
The Safer Portsmouth Partnership’s latest strategic assessment fills in the city picture for 2023/24. Domestic abuse is described as the largest known driver of violence, accounting for 37 per cent of assaults. Shoplifting rose 39 per cent on 2022/23, with most offences around Commercial Road (including Cascades) and Gunwharf Quays, followed by Cosham High Street, North Harbour, London Road, Palmerston Road and Albert Road. Serious violence fell 3 per cent but remains above pre-Covid levels; robbery of personal property made up a quarter of it, and possession of weapons 40 per cent. Drug-related anti-social behaviour was the top concern in the partnership’s residents’ survey.
Is crime in Portsmouth going up or down?
Down. The Safer Portsmouth Partnership says the city recorded just over 25,000 crimes in 2023/24, 8 per cent fewer than the year before, and CrimeRate counts 23,340 in the 12 months to April 2026. Across Hampshire, recorded crime fell 5.1 per cent in the latest year to 134,841 offences and is 15.5 per cent below its 2023 peak of 159,627 (our arithmetic).
| Year (12 months to April) | Hampshire crimes | Hampshire per 1,000 | South East per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 120,200 | 58.55 | 55.04 |
| 2018 | 146,264 | 71.07 | 63.85 |
| 2019 | 142,619 | 69.41 | 65.82 |
| 2020 | 141,723 | 68.79 | 65.97 |
| 2021 | 132,111 | 63.97 | 61.36 |
| 2022 | 159,505 | 76.75 | 68.58 |
| 2023 | 159,627 | 76.11 | 68.83 |
| 2024 | 143,206 | 67.71 | 65.86 |
| 2025 | 142,154 | 66.71 | 63.35 |
| 2026 | 134,841 | 62.97 | 61.44 |
Source: CrimeRate Hampshire, yearly rows to April 2026 (the partial 2016 row is left out). Hampshire’s rate has been above the South East’s in every one of the ten years, but the gap has narrowed from 8.17 per 1,000 at the 2022 high to 1.53 now. Over ten years the county’s count rose 12 per cent and its rate 7.5 per cent, slower than the South East’s 11.6 per cent (our arithmetic).
For Portsmouth itself, the partnership’s own counts point the same way: 28,119 police-recorded crimes in 2021/22, then just over 25,000 in 2023/24. Those counts and CrimeRate’s 23,340 use different periods and methods, so read them as direction, not as an exact series. The partnership also warns that the rise in recorded crime from 2013/14 to 2022/23, and the recent fall, are thought to have been largely driven by changes in how police record crime. Its residents’ survey found that 35 per cent of participants had experienced at least one crime in the previous year, a share that has been stable since 2014.
Which police teams cover Portsmouth?
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary covers Portsmouth through eight neighbourhood teams listed on data.police.uk, from Paulsgrove and Cosham in the north to Southsea and Eastney in the south. Portsmouth Central Police Station, on Winston Churchill Avenue (PO1 2DG), is listed as the base of the Charles Dickens and Nelson team, which covers the city centre.
| Neighbourhood team (data.police.uk) | ID | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Charles Dickens and Nelson | 5PC01 | City centre; Portsmouth Central Police Station, Winston Churchill Avenue, PO1 2DG |
| Fratton, Baffins | 5PC02 | – |
| St Thomas | 5PS01 | – |
| Central Southsea and St Judes | 5PS02 | Albert Road, Fawcett Road, Palmerston Road, Southsea Common |
| Eastney and Milton | 5PS03 | – |
| Cosham | 5PN01 | – |
| Paulsgrove | 5PN02 | – |
| Hilsea, Copnor, Drayton and Farlington | 5PN03 | – |
Source: data.police.uk neighbourhoods API for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, checked 31 October 2026. The police.uk team pages with 12-month counts could not be read on the day of writing, so this page does not give per-team counts. You can contact any team through 101, the non-emergency number.
When is crime most likely in Portsmouth?
In Portsmouth, serious violence is highest from Friday to Sunday, mostly in the evenings, according to the Safer Portsmouth Partnership’s 2023/24 assessment. It found levels were also relatively high between 3pm and 5pm, and no clear seasonal pattern. Police street-level data on police.uk has no time of day, so it cannot show this for individual streets. For the national picture by hour, day and season, see when crime is most likely in the UK.
Is Portsmouth safe at night?
Portsmouth is generally safe at night with ordinary care, but its late-night risk is concentrated: the partnership’s 2023/24 assessment says serious violence is concentrated in the city centre around Commercial Road and peaks on Friday to Sunday evenings. It links serious violence to the night-time economy, although only 9 per cent of it happened at licensed premises. In the residents’ survey, 13 per cent named the City Centre and Commercial Road as the place they felt most unsafe or avoided. Keep to lit, busy routes between the city centre, Gunwharf Quays, Southsea and the stations, plan your way home before a night out, and use licensed taxis. Check the streets you will use in the postcode checker.
One gap matters at the stations. Crimes on the railway are recorded by British Transport Police, and data.police.uk lists BTP crime data as not provided for every month from March 2025 to August 2026. Incidents inside Portsmouth & Southsea, Portsmouth Harbour and Fratton stations are therefore missing from recent police maps, including ours. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has no data gaps listed for September 2025 to August 2026. Read how the police crime map works for the other limits.
Is Portsmouth a safe place to live or study?
For most residents and students, yes. Much of Portsmouth’s extra crime compared with the county is violence and theft concentrated in a busy centre, not crime at home: across Hampshire, burglary is 3.7 per cent of recorded crime and vehicle crime 4.8 per cent. The partnership reports that police-recorded anti-social behaviour has fallen by almost 8,000 reports since 2011/12, although about six in ten residents still say they experience or witness it. The city-wide number also hides large differences between streets: a quiet road in Drayton or Farlington is a very different place from the streets around Commercial Road on a Saturday night. Compare two postcodes before you choose, and read how to check crime in your area for the limits of any single number. The figures describe recorded incidents, not the people who live here.
How do I check a specific street or postcode in Portsmouth?
- Enter your postcode in the postcode checker to see 12 months of police-recorded crime and the trend by month.
- Add a second postcode, for example one in Southsea and one in Cosham, to compare two areas side by side.
- Zoom into the UK crime map to see what was recorded near a street, campus or station.
These figures describe areas, not addresses. Police data covers reported crime only, and each crime is shown at a nearby anonymised point. Read where our crime data comes from for the limits.
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Portsmouth crime FAQ
Is Portsmouth safe?
Broadly, yes. Portsmouth’s crime rate of 98.85 per 1,000 in the 12 months to April 2026 is higher than Hampshire’s (62.97) but about 7 per cent below Southampton’s and almost level with Leicester’s. Most of the extra crime is concentrated in the city centre.
What is the crime rate in Portsmouth?
Portsmouth recorded 23,340 crimes in the 12 months to April 2026, a rate of 98.85 per 1,000 people (CrimeRate). That is about 57 per cent above the Hampshire average of 62.97 and 61 per cent above the South East (61.44).
Is Portsmouth safer than Southampton?
Yes, slightly. Portsmouth’s 98.85 per 1,000 in the 12 months to April 2026 is about 7 per cent below Southampton’s 106.50, and it records fewer crimes (23,340 against 30,153). They are the two highest-rate places of the 35 CrimeRate lists in Hampshire.
Is Portsmouth safe at night?
Mostly, with ordinary city-centre care. The Safer Portsmouth Partnership’s 2023/24 assessment found serious violence peaks on Friday to Sunday evenings and is concentrated around Commercial Road. Crimes inside railway stations are missing from police data for March 2025 to August 2026.
Is crime in Portsmouth going up?
No. The city recorded just over 25,000 crimes in 2023/24, 8 per cent fewer than in 2022/23, and Hampshire’s recorded crime fell 5.1 per cent to 134,841 offences in the 12 months to April 2026.
Other towns and cities: Southampton, Brighton, Bournemouth, Reading, Oxford, Bristol, Peterborough and London. In an emergency call 999.