Violence impacts the UK by £124 billion annually

A fascinating study from the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) was released today revealing that although violence in the UK has fallen by 11% over the past decade and is falling faster than any other European country; the impact of violence is nevertheless costing the UK £124 billion annually through direct and indirect costs and lost productivity.

IEP’s report, which is the first-ever UK Peace Index (UKPI) points out that this high cost of violence in 2012 was the equivalent of £4,700 per household; an astonishing 7.7% of the UK's annual GDP.

IEP’s press release continues:

[The index] reveals that of the major urban areas Glasgow is the UK’s least peaceful, with London ranked as the second most violent.

If violence was reduced in the UK by only 9% this would result in savings of more than £11 billion – the total cost of the London Olympics. A reduction of 25% would be enough to cover the total cost of building the Birmingham Motorway, the Forth Replacement Crossing in Edinburgh and the London Crossrail.

“The UKPI clearly indicates that the UK has become substantially more peaceful in the past decade, but it also shows that further improvements in peace would generate billions of pounds in extra economic activity,” said Steve Killelea, founder and executive chairman of IEP.

“While the increased level of peace cannot be narrowed down to any single factor, the findings of the UK Peace Index show that poverty and economic opportunity are significantly associated with peace as supported by other international studies including the U.S. Peace Index. This suggests greater emphasis needs to be placed on programmes that tackle poverty and related issues such as access to education and economic opportunity,” Killelea concluded.

The full press release can be read here

The full report (PDF) ‘UK Peace Index Exploring the fabric of peace in the UK from 2003 to 2012’ can be downloaded from this link

Further facts from the IEP report:

• Glasgow is UK’s least peaceful urban area with a murder rate double the national average
• Cardiff urban area is the most peaceful with 60% less violent crime than Glasgow
• Economic costs of lost peace remain high but violence in the UK dropped over 10% in the past decade
• UK had the largest drop in total crime of European countries in the past decade
• Study shows extreme poverty is the factor most closely associated with violence while the number of police officers had no correlation to levels of peace
• Fear of crime is greater than the reality: 17% of Britons think they will be a victim of violent crime, but less than 4% will experience violent crime
• Broadland in Norfolk is UK’s most peaceful local authority; London’s Lewisham is the least peaceful

Institute for Economics and Peace http://economicsandpeace.org/

TCPW Comment

At the end of the report is an interesting comparison between US and UK violent crime and homicide rates.  With the gun control debate still raging in the US, in which there are constant comparisons being made with the UK, this section of the report is most revealing.