‘Significant increase’ in adults experiencing domestic abuse – survey

There has been a “significant increase” in the proportion of adults in England and Wales who have experienced domestic abuse, a major new survey suggests.

Some 9.6% of people aged 16 and over are estimated to have been the victim of domestic abuse in the year to March 2026, or around 4.7 million people.

This is up from 7.8%, or around 3.8 million people, in the year ending March 2025.

The rise indicates “real change” in the prevalence of domestic abuse and is a “significant increase”, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which carried out the survey.

The jump has been driven by a rise in partner abuse, experienced by 7.9% of people aged 16 and over in the latest figures, compared with 6.1% in the previous year.

Some “minor changes” to the way the survey is carried out are likely to have influenced the size of the increase, the ONS said.

But their best assessment is there has been a genuine rise in the level of domestic abuse.

While there has been a jump in the prevalence of partner abuse, figures for family abuse are broadly similar, at 2.8% of adults in the year to March 2026, compared with 2.7% in the previous 12 months.

Meghan Elkin, ONS head of crime statistics, said: “While minor survey changes and the usual uncertainty around gathering data on this sensitive topic are likely to have affected these estimates, our assessment is that the rise in domestic abuse includes real change.

“More data points are needed to further understand the uncertainty and what this tells us about trends in domestic abuse.”

The ONS has also published new estimates of the combined prevalence of domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking.

This is the main measure for the Government to track its efforts to halve the level of violence against women and girls (VAWG) by 2034.

Some 12.8% of females aged 16 and over in England and Wales – around 3.2 million people – are likely to have experienced domestic abuse, sexual victimisation or stalking in the year to March 2026.

The figure is lower for males, at 8.9% (around 2.1 million).

These estimates are based on a new survey question and are currently not comparable with previous data measuring the combined prevalence of different types of abuse.

The ONS will publish an assessment in December on whether a comparison can be made, in order to see how this measurement of abuse changes over time.