Western Australia Property Theft Statistics 2024
Recorded victim counts and population-adjusted rates for Western Australia, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Population 2,978,147 at 30 June 2024.
Other theft
202481,930
2,751 per 100,000 people — 26% above the national rate
-2.3% on 2023
Motor vehicle theft
20245,653
189.8 per 100,000 people — 21% below the national rate
-16% on 2023
Unlawful entry with intent
202416,607
557.6 per 100,000 people
-11.8% on 2023
How Western Australia compares
Adjusted for population, Western Australia records the 2nd highest rate of 8 jurisdictions for other theft, at 2,751 victims per 100,000 people against a national 2,190.4. For motor vehicle theft it records the 6th highest rate of 8 jurisdictions.
Comparing raw counts between jurisdictions is misleading — the largest states record the most offences largely because more people live in them. Rates per 100,000 are the only fair basis for comparison, and they frequently reverse the ranking that raw counts suggest.
The last decade
Between 2015 and 2024, the other-theft rate in Western Australia has fallen 24.4%, from 3,640.1 to 2,751 per 100,000. The rate peaked in 2015 at 3,640.1 and was at its lowest in 2020 at 2,184.3.
That low point coincides with the COVID-19 lockdown period, when reported theft fell sharply across Australia as more people stayed home. Rates have since recovered.
Ten-year trend
Other theft victims per 100,000 people in Western Australia. Each year uses its own population, so the trend reflects crime rather than population growth.
| Year | Other theft | per 100k | Vehicle theft | Unlawful entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 92,483 | 3,640.1 | 8,416 | 37,515 |
| 2016 | 88,215 | 3,451.3 | 8,357 | 37,278 |
| 2017 | 82,630 | 3,195.6 | 7,764 | 33,902 |
| 2018 | 87,035 | 3,324.7 | 7,330 | 31,738 |
| 2019 | 89,353 | 3,359.6 | 7,664 | 31,854 |
| 2020 | 59,258 | 2,184.3 | 5,338 | 20,365 |
| 2021 | 65,857 | 2,395.4 | 6,577 | 22,408 |
| 2022 | 71,852 | 2,571.7 | 6,718 | 22,059 |
| 2023 | 83,882 | 2,901.6 | 6,732 | 18,835 |
| 2024 | 81,930 | 2,751 | 5,653 | 16,607 |
Vehicle theft and unlawful entry columns are aligned by year where published; a dash means the ABS did not publish a figure for that offence and year.
More detailed Western Australia data
The ABS figures above are annual and national in scope. For finer detail — usually by suburb or local government area, and more often than once a year — Western Australia publishes its own statistics through Western Australia Police Force Crime Statistics Portal.
Ten-year offence time series by locality in Excel, plus an interactive suburb lookup. Updated quarterly in February, May, August and November.
Note that jurisdictions define offences and reference periods differently, so figures from a state agency will not always match the ABS figures on this page. The ABS applies one national classification across all jurisdictions, which is why we use it for comparison.
Compare with other states and territories
Method and sources
Victim counts from Australian Bureau of Statistics, Recorded Crime – Victims, 2024. Rates per 100,000 are our own calculation — the ABS does not publish victimisation rates for property offences — using ABS Estimated Resident Population for the matching year.
ABS randomly adjusts cells to protect confidentiality, so jurisdiction figures do not sum exactly to national totals. Counts include offences against organisations as well as individuals, and reported crime undercounts actual crime.
Full method and the national picture are on the theft statistics hub.
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