The increase reflects a similar nationwide surge in rape and sexual offences being recorded by police in England and Wales.
It comes despite continued concern about the low number of offences ending in convictions and will increase the pressure on both police and the Crown Prosecution Service to achieve more success in bringing perpetrators to justice.
Ministers are also facing calls to reduce the huge court backlog of more than 60,000 cases which campaigners, including London’s Victims’ Commissioner Claire Waxman, warn is having a particularly damaging effect on victims and the prospects of achieving convictions.
The ONS cautioned the increase in rape and other sexual offending shown in the figures could reflect “the impact of high-profile incidents, media coverage, and campaigns” in prompting more people to report offences.
It added, however, that there was also “a potential increase in the number of victims” and pointed out the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which measures people’s experiences, has shown that the true level of sex crimes is much higher with many victims still choosing not to come forward.
Meanwhile, other figures revealved for the capital show a 6 per cent increase in knife crime, with 11,247 offences recorded in the year to the end of June 2022.
The rise follows a drop in blade crimes during the coronavirus pandemic, when lockdown restrictions reduced the number of people on the streets.
It is still well below the peak of around 15,000 such offences being recorded in other recent years.
The new knife crime total includes 73 blade killings — seven fewer than a year earlier — as well as 182 knifepoint rapes or other sex attacks, plus 4,055 assaults and 5,906 robberies.
Elsewhere, figures for England and Wales show that the overall crime total has hit a new high, driven by the sharp increase in violent and sexual offences.
A total of 6.5 million crimes were recorded in the 12 months to June 2022, up from a previous high of 6.3 million.
