Knife crime offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales rose year on year in the latest figures, but have not yet returned to levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some 48,716 offences were recorded in the 12 months to September 2023.

This is up 5% from 46,367 in the previous 12 months, but is 5% lower than the 51,228 in the year to March 2020.

These figures do not include Devon & Cornwall and Greater Manchester Police, due to issues involving the supply of data.

There has been a “notable increase” in the number of robberies involving a knife or sharp instrument, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which compiled the figures.

These jumped from 16,746 in the year to September 2022 to 20,000 in the year to September 2023, a rise of 19% – though the total is still below pre-pandemic levels.

Knife-enabled homicides stood at 240 in the 12 months to September 2023, broadly unchanged on the 241 recorded in the previous year and also lower than pre-pandemic figures.

Some 5,459 offences classed as knife-enabled threats to kill were recorded in the latest 12-month period, down slightly (by 3%) from 5,641 in the previous year, but in both cases these figures are higher than those recorded before the pandemic.

The number of offences classed as “possession of article with a blade or point” stood at 27,846 in the 12 months to September 2023, up 4% from 26,903 in the previous year.

“This trend could have been influenced by targeted police action to tackle knife crime,” the ONS said.

Of the 48,716 knife crime offences in the year to September 2023, 29% (13,957) were recorded by the Metropolitan Police, 11% (5,239) by West Midlands Police, and 5% (2,373) by West Yorkshire Police.

But when looking at the number of offences per population, West Midlands Police had the highest rate, with 177 per 100,000 people, followed by Cleveland Police (159 per 100,000), then the Metropolitan Police (158 per 100,000) and South Yorkshire Police (117 per 100,000).

More than half of police forces in England and Wales recorded fewer knife crime offences in the year to September 2023 than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20, including some of the largest forces such as the Metropolitan Police, West Yorkshire Police and Merseyside Police.

Among the 15 forces that recorded more knife crime offences in the latest 12-month period than in 2019/20 were West Midlands Police (4% higher), Cleveland Police (30% higher), Northumbria Police (43% higher) and the British Transport Police (99% higher).