The line graph illustrates the percentage of three distinct criminal activities—car theft, house burglary, and street robbery—in England and Wales between 1970 and 2000.
Overall, car theft was consistently the most prevalent crime throughout the period, while street robbery remained the least common, showing minimal fluctuation. While all three categories experienced some growth during the initial decades, car theft and house burglary saw significant declines towards the end of the period.
Car theft began at 0.4% in 1970 and climbed steadily to reach a peak of 1.4% in 1985. Following this, the rate declined to 1.2% in 1990 and continued to fall, finishing at 0.8% in 2000. House burglary followed a similar, albeit less dramatic, trajectory. Starting at 0.3% in 1970, it rose gradually to a high of 0.6% in 1990, before decreasing to 0.4% by the end of the period.
In contrast, street robbery remained relatively stable throughout the thirty years. It fluctuated marginally between 0.1% and 0.15%, never exceeding the rates of the other two crimes. By 2000, the percentage of street robbery returned to its starting point of 0.1%.