Commercial Victimisation Survey (2002+)

The Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) provides a source of information on crime and crime-related issues as they affect businesses in England and Wales. It provides additional detail on the extent of crime to be used alongside the other main sources of information on crime. These are the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) (formerly the British Crime Survey), which covers crimes against private individuals and households, and the Police Recorded Crime statistics, which cover crimes reported to the police. In common with the CSEW, the CVS also includes crimes that are not reported to the police. The Police Recorded Crime data tables are available from the GOV.UK website.

The CVS was conducted in 1994, 2002, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 (at present, the Archive only holds data from 2002 onwards) and the survey has been commissioned to run in 2018. Further information on the CVS, with links to findings by year, can also be found on the GOV.UK Crimes against businesses webpage.

Businesses were asked which of a number of types of crime they had experienced in the 12 months prior to being interviewed. For each one they had suffered, they were asked about the number of occasions they had been victim to that type of crime, the effect of it on their business and the cost of the most recent incident. The survey also asked respondents whether they had reported the incidents to the police; the extent of the losses suffered; their crime prevention precautions; and their concerns about problems of crime and antisocial behaviour in the local area. The 2021 questionnaire also gathered information on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on crime experienced. To obtain a free account please register with the UKDA.