Violence was down by 4 per cent, including wounding which was down by 11 per cent. The proportion of people who were victims of some type of crime once or more during 1999 fell from 34 per cent to 30 per cent - the lowest victim rate since 1983. Robbery was up 14 per cent and theft from a person saw a 4 per cent increase. Violence on strangers was up by nearly a third. More than 19,000 people were interviewed for the survey which is undertaken every two years.
Areas worst affected by crime include the North West and Yorkshire.
The survey shows that people continue to overestimate the problem of crime.