The overall crime rate in India declined in 2024 compared with 2023 but there was an increase of over 17% in cybercrime cases, according to the Crime in India 2024 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Wednesday (May 6, 2026).

A total of 1,01,928 cases were registered under cybercrimes in 2024 over 86,420 such cases in the previous year.

“During 2024, 72.6% of cybercrime cases registered were for the motive of fraud (73,987 out of 1,01,928 cases) followed by sexual exploitation with 3.1% (3,190 cases) and extortion with 2.5% (2,536 cases),” the report said.

The NCRB recorded 58.86 lakh cognisable crimes across the country in 2024, marking a 6% decline from the previous year. Of these, 35.44 lakh cases were registered under the Indian Penal Code and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and 23.41 lakh cases under special and local laws.

There were 5,194 cases of offences “against the state” registered in 2024 as compared to 4,873 cases in the year 2023, showing a rise of 6.6%. “Out of 5,194 cases, 4,395 (84.6%) cases were registered under The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, followed by 649 (12.5%) cases under The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,” the report said.

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Crime against SC/ST

The report revealed that a total of 55,698 cases were registered for crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs), showing a decrease of 3.6% over 2023, when 57,789 cases were registered. Crimes against Scheduled Tribes also showed a sharp decline of 23.1%, with a total of 9,966 cases in 2024, as compared to 12,960 cases in 2023.

The NCRB also released the Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI) 2024 report according to which 1,70,746 suicides were recorded in 2024. Those associated with the agriculture sector, the unemployed, and daily wage workers accounted for a substantial share of suicidal deaths.

A total of 10,546 persons involved in the farming sector (consisting of 4,633 farmers/cultivators and 5,913 agricultural labourers) died by suicide in 2024, accounting for 6.2%. Out of 4,633 farmer/cultivator suicides, a total of 4,481 were male and 152 were female, the report said. Around 31% of the total suicides were reported among the daily wagers, the report said. The number of unemployed people who died by suicide was 14,778 while the number of students and housewives who ended their lives stood at 14,488 and 22,113 respectively.

Deaths due to drug overdose saw a 50% increase in 2024 compared with the previous year. The report stated that that 978 people died due to drug overdose in 2024, up from 650 deaths in 2023. Tamil Nadu reported 313 deaths, the highest number of drug overdose deaths, followed by Punjab 106, Madhya Pradesh 90, Rajasthan 69 and Mizoram 65, according to the NCRB data.

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