Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Newry records drugs at 3.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
Its letter overall is C−: more crime per resident than 84% of UK towns, from crimes the Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded inside its settlement through September 2023 to August 2026. Typical years here bring 35.7 violent and sexual offences plus 19.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents. Recorded violence rose 8% in a year. Violent crime here is higher than in 78% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, higher than in 92%.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Newry
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 8% more violent crime per resident in Newry than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 222 UK towns of 20,000 to 39,000 people, Newry has the 151st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Bedworth, Hebburn and Buxton, higher than Herne Bay, Pudsey and Coseley. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
48% of Newry’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of Northern Ireland (NIMDM 2017, crime and disorder), and 10% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Newry’s C− for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 4,757 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Newry against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
48% of Newry residents live in one of Northern Ireland’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
10% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Northern Ireland’s neighbourhoods, and 48% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime and disorder domain scores recorded crime, anti-social behaviour and deliberate fires where people live, on 2014–15 figures (NISRA’s latest edition), so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Newry’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (Super Output Area, about 2,000 people) in the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 (crime and disorder domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of Northern Ireland’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Newry runs highest on drugs (6.6 per 1,000 against 1.9), anti-social behaviour (41.6 per 1,000 against 12.4) and criminal damage & arson (14.7 per 1,000 against 6.2). Vehicle crime sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1,186 | 41.6 | 12.4 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,006 | 35.3 | 30.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 420 | 14.7 | 6.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 384 | 13.5 | 6.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 188 | 6.6 | 1.9 |
| Other theft | not graded | 132 | 4.6 | 4.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 93 | 3.3 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 65 | 2.3 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 65 | 2.3 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 41 | 1.4 | 0.7 |
| Public order | not graded | 20 | 0.7 | 5.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 12 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 8 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Crime in Newry per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 20 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 18 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Among 222 towns its size, Newry ranks 151st for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 148 | Herne Bay Kent | 24,873 | 40.1 | 15 | 19.8 | C− |
| 149 | Pudsey West Yorkshire | 34,853 | 34.8 | 20.3 | 21.2 | C− |
| 150 | Coseley West Midlands | 25,206 | 35.8 | 19.6 | 9.8 | C− |
| 151 | Newry Newry, Mourne and Down | 28,530 | 35.7 | 19.9 | 19.2 | C− |
| 152 | Seaham County Durham | 21,660 | 34.3 | 21.6 | 17.7 | C− |
| 153 | Chester-le-Street County Durham | 23,554 | 37.2 | 18.9 | 24.7 | C− |
| 154 | Stratford-upon-Avon Warwickshire | 28,112 | 38.2 | 17.8 | 26.1 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 222 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | 28,979 | 105 | 32.9 | 33.7 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Newry, and others in Newry, Mourne and Down.
How crime in Newry has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data; England and Wales towns only).
Rolling six-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +8% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +3% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -2% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -1% (towns its size -4%).
Lowest recorded crime in Bessbrook, Drumalane and Whitecross; highest in Ballybot
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessbrook | 1,720 | 18.2 | 11.4 | |
| Drumalane | 4,213 | 25.6 | 14.7 | |
| Whitecross | 681 | 25.9 | 15.2 | |
| St. Patrick's | 4,705 | 31.7 | 17.1 | |
| Damolly | 4,345 | 40.3 | 22.9 | |
| Abbey | 2,652 | 60.5 | 31.4 | |
| Ballybot | 4,789 | 77.5 | 43 |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Ballybot records 2.2× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Newry.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Newry’s settlement), September 2023 to August 2026.
Three people died in collisions on Newry’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 379 collisions with injuries inside Newry in five years, in which three people died (3 were pedestrians). 56 people were killed or seriously injured: 28 on foot and 6 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Newry’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Newry’s own rate (2.1) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Newry had 39.3 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 50% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured is as the Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded it: the Department for Transport’s adjustment, which evens out different ways of recording injuries, covers Great Britain’s forces only, and the towns its size are Great Britain’s. There’s no national rate here: more than three quarters of Northern Ireland’s road deaths (77%) happen outside every town’s settlement boundary. Source: PSNI police recorded injury road traffic collisions, 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Newry’s settlement, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Newry
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newry | 28,530 | 35.7 | 19.9 | C− |
| Bessbrook | 2,892 | 23.3 | 16.7 | C+ |
| Warrenpoint and Burren | 9,091 | 16.8 | 7.5 | B+ |
| Rostrevor | 2,502 | 15.1 | 6 | A− |
| Banbridge | 17,400 | 28.2 | 10.8 | C+ |
Newry records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Bessbrook, 2.4 miles away, records 23.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Newry’s 35.7.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Newry sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the settlement can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Newry
Is Newry safe?
Police recorded 35.7 violent and sexual offences and 19.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Newry’s settlement). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 16% of UK towns. Among 222 UK towns of 20,000 to 39,000 people, Newry is 151st from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Newry?
By council ward, Bessbrook, Drumalane and Whitecross record the least violent and household crime per resident: 18.2, 25.6 and 25.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 77.5 in Ballybot.
Is crime going up in Newry?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 8%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Newry?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,006 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (420) and shoplifting (384), with 1,186 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Newry compare with Craigavon?
Craigavon records 30.9 violent and sexual offences and 12.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Newry’s 35.7 and 19.9, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime (Police Service of Northern Ireland), 36 months to August 2026, points inside the settlement boundary · NISRA Census 2021, data zones best-fitted to the NISRA Settlement Development Limits 2015 (settlement totals from NISRA where it publishes them) · OSNI ward boundaries (the 2014 wards), residents from NISRA Census 2021 data zones by area · NISRA Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017, crime and disorder domain by Super Output Area (residents from NISRA Census 2021 data zones by area) · PSNI police recorded injury road traffic collisions 2021–2025 (Open Data NI), points inside the settlement boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.