UK Vehicle Theft Index 2026
Police recorded 8,519 vehicle crimes within a mile of the 12 town centres in this index from October 2025 to September 2026, and 8 of the 12 saw more offences in the latest three months than in the three before. Nationally, DVLA records show 54,830 vehicles were stolen in 2025, 11% fewer than the 61,343 of the year before.
Police data covers October 2025 to September 2026 and was retrieved on 2026-11-05. DVLA figures cover the full year 2025 and were released in February 2026. The index refreshes itself when police.uk publishes a new month.
Key figures
- Cardiff recorded the most vehicle crime in the index: 1,386 offences in the 12 months to September 2026, about 115.5 a month.
- Worcester had the sharpest recent rise, with offences in the latest three months +56% on the previous three.
- Across the index, 81% of vehicle crimes were closed with no suspect identified.
- The Ford Fiesta was the most stolen car in the DVLA figures for 2025, with 3,511 taken.
- Ford was the most stolen brand in the same DVLA year, with 7,677 of its vehicles recorded stolen.
- Stafford had the lowest count in the index, at 100 offences in 12 months.
Vehicle crime by town, October 2025 to September 2026
| Rank | Town | 12-month offences | Average a month | Latest 3 months vs prior 3 | Peak month | Closed, no suspect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff | 1,386 | 115.5 | +27% | August 2026 (164) | 80% |
| 2 | Birmingham city centre | 1,378 | 114.8 | +20% | October 2025 (142) | 84% |
| 3 | Nottingham | 1,024 | 85.3 | -19% | October 2025 (143) | 81% |
| 4 | Bristol | 941 | 78.4 | +15% | July 2026 (135) | 84% |
| 5 | Leeds | 757 | 63.1 | +21% | September 2026 (113) | 80% |
| 6 | Leicester | 721 | 60.1 | +42% | September 2026 (95) | 82% |
| 7 | Sheffield city centre | 622 | 51.8 | -1% | October 2025 (87) | 88% |
| 8 | Coventry | 536 | 44.7 | +16% | September 2026 (61) | 74% |
| 9 | Wolverhampton | 460 | 38.3 | +40% | September 2026 (57) | 75% |
| 10 | Dudley | 369 | 30.8 | -1% | April 2026 (41) | 77% |
| 11 | Worcester | 225 | 18.8 | +56% | July 2026 (32) | 73% |
| 12 | Stafford | 100 | 8.3 | -12% | June 2026 (17) | 73% |
Most stolen cars, DVLA 2025
The DVLA lost-or-stolen register, released through a Freedom of Information request reported by What Car?, ranks the models below. Share is each model's part of all 54,830 vehicles stolen that year.
| Rank | Model | Stolen | Share of all thefts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford Fiesta | 3,511 | 6.4% |
| 2 | Volkswagen Golf | 1,625 | 3.0% |
| 3 | Ford Focus | 1,474 | 2.7% |
| 4 | Toyota RAV4 | 1,319 | 2.4% |
| 5 | BMW 3 Series | 1,249 | 2.3% |
| 6 | Nissan Juke | 1,200 | 2.2% |
| 7 | Toyota C-HR | 967 | 1.8% |
| 8 | Lexus NX | 951 | 1.7% |
| 9 | Range Rover Evoque | 895 | 1.6% |
| 10 | Vauxhall Corsa | 874 | 1.6% |
| 11 | Land Rover Discovery Sport | 813 | 1.5% |
| 12 | Ford Kuga | 799 | 1.5% |
| 13 | Vauxhall Astra | 758 | 1.4% |
| 14 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 826 | 1.5% |
| 15 | BMW 1 Series | 754 | 1.4% |
| 16 | Range Rover Sport | 700 | 1.3% |
| 17 | Nissan Qashqai | 695 | 1.3% |
| 18 | Audi A3 | 658 | 1.2% |
| 19 | Kia Sportage | 653 | 1.2% |
| 20 | Toyota Prius | 644 | 1.2% |
Method
- Towns. Each of the 12 towns is a fixed point; we count every police.uk "vehicle crime" record within one mile of it, month by month. That category combines theft of a vehicle, theft from a vehicle and interference with a vehicle.
- Trend. "Latest 3 months vs prior 3" compares the newest quarter with the quarter before it, so a single unusual month does not swing it.
- Outcomes. "Closed, no suspect" is the share of records whose latest police.uk outcome is "Investigation complete; no suspect identified". Recent months can still change.
- Models. Counts are DVLA records of vehicles reported stolen, which include vehicles later recovered.
- Coverage. Police Scotland does not publish street-level data to police.uk, so the town ranking covers England and Wales. The DVLA register covers Great Britain.
Download the data
Free to reuse with credit: town figures (CSV) and model figures (CSV). Police figures are reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How to cite this index
Trackerstop, UK Vehicle Theft Index (September 2026 update), https://trackerstop.co.uk/uk-vehicle-theft-index/, using police.uk data (October 2025 to September 2026) and DVLA stolen-vehicle records for 2025.
Protect your own vehicle
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