2025 DVLA & Police Stolen Notification Comparison

The following table conveys a comparison of:

• The Lost or Stolen (LoS) notifications the DVLA receives from the police, via the Police National Computer (PNC)
• The crimes recorded by police constabularies in England & Wales.

The data is for the calendar year 2025 and covers all motor vehicle types (cars, vans, 2-wheeled vehicles, HGVs, etc.).

The data was sourced from:

1. the DVLA in a single Excel spreadsheet file. This is commonly cited vehicle theft data, as it is relatively easy to acquire; one request (of the DVLA), one response to monitor and information in a single format across all constabularies.
2. 44 police constabularies to whom individual Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) requests were made, with varying results.

Caveats about the data will follow, explaining exclusions and difficulties.

Reference to ‘Police 48 and the subsequent columns 48?, 37-1, 37-2, 130-1 & 131-3 refers to the following Home Office crime codes under which the police provided information:

• 48 theft
• 48? Taking Without Consent (TWoC) ‘not driving/carried’
• 37-1 aggravated vehicle taking, death caused
• 37-2 aggravated
• 130 unauthorised taking
• 131-3 aggravated <£5k damage

Some of the codes appeared to be used differently, subject to the constabulary concerned. In some instances, little code data appears because the ‘taking’ offences have been provided as a single figure (usually code 48) or under the main codes, 48, 37 &/or 130.

In 2025, the DVLA received 87,452 vehicle LoS notifications, though 1,339 of these could not be associated with a constabulary (the DVLA advising this is how they receive the data). When compared with police records, the variation has been considered using:

1. Code 48 only, a total of 107,734, i.e. a difference of 20,282 records, or a variation of 18.83%
2. All codes, a total of 115,710, i.e. a difference of 28,258 records, or a variation of 24.42%

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#	Constabulary	DVLA Stolen		Police 48	48?	37-1	37-2	130-1	131-3		ALL		Police 48 – DVLA	%	Police ALL- DVLA	%
1	Avon & Somerset Police	2,347		3,008	167		26	0			3,201		661	21.97%	854	26.68%
2	Bedford Police	893		1,057			51	154	17		1,279		164	15.52%	386	30.18%
3	British Transport Police	125		460			2	6			468		335	72.83%	343	73.29%
4	Cambridgeshire Police	986		1,302			66				1,368		316	24.27%	382	27.92%
5	Cheshire Police	602		765			43				808		163	21.31%	206	25.50%
6	City of London Police	9		19							19		10	52.63%	10	52.63%
7	Cleveland Police	414		613			90	248	22		973		199	32.46%	559	57.45%
8	Cumbria Police	116		269			32				301		153	56.88%	185	61.46%
9	Derbyshire Police	1,031		1,477			25	136	36		1,674		446	30.20%	643	38.41%
10	Devon & Cornwall Police	1,304		1,245			23	122	47		1,437		-59	-4.74%	133	9.26%
11	Dorset Police	485		918			4		5		927		433	47.17%	442	47.68%
12	Durham Police	598		934	81		44		18		1,077		336	35.97%	479	44.48%
13	Dyfed Powys Police	144		291			56				347		147	50.52%	203	58.50%
14	Essex Police	3,679		3,984	170		58		39		4,251		305	7.66%	572	13.46%
15	Gloucestershire Police	355		574			7		8		589		219	38.15%	234	39.73%
16	Greater Manchester Police	4,008		5,517			178				5,695		1,509	27.35%	1,687	29.62%
17	Gwent Police	420		956			45	68	22		1,091		536	56.07%	671	61.50%
18	Hampshire Police	1,557		1,933			42	387	40		2,402		376	19.45%	845	35.18%
19	Hertfordshire Police	1,599		1,938	103		33		14		2,088		339	17.49%	489	23.42%
20	Humberside Police	869		1,227							1,227		358	29.18%	358	29.18%
21	Kent Police	2,089		2,071			185	853	145		3,254		-18	-0.87%	1,165	35.80%
22	Lancashire Police	1,554		2,057		1	135	214	31		2,438		503	24.45%	884	36.26%
23	Leicestershire Police	1,494		1,304			14				1,318		-190	-14.57%	-176	-13.35%
24	Lincolnshire Police	598		767			11				778		169	22.03%	180	23.14%
25	Merseyside Police	523		1,821							1,821		1,298	71.28%	1,298	71.28%
26	Metropolitan Police Service	24,769		31,615			222				31,837		6,846	21.65%	7,068	22.20%
27	Norfolk Police	369		631			60				691		262	41.52%	322	46.60%
28	North Wales Police	115		263			29	144	11		447		148	56.27%	332	74.27%
29	North Yorkshire Police	461		524			34				558		63	12.02%	97	17.38%
30	Northamptonshire Police	607		813			16	88			917		206	25.34%	310	33.81%
31	Northumbria Police	1,010		1,040			138	741			1,919		30	2.88%	909	47.37%
32	Not Known	1,339
33	Nottingham Police	1,318		2,131			30				2,161		813	38.15%	843	39.01%
34	South Wales Police	1,605		1,976							1,976		371	18.78%	371	18.78%
35	South Yorkshire Police	2,721		4,523							4,523		1,802	39.84%	1,802	39.84%
36	Staffordshire Police	1,843		1,588							1,588		-255	-16.06%	-255	-16.06%
37	Suffolk Police	345		507			47				554		162	31.95%	209	37.73%
38	Surrey Police	1,137		1,564			29				1,593		427	27.30%	456	28.63%
39	Sussex Police	1,237		1,709		1	61	202	55		2,028		472	27.62%	791	39.00%
40	Thames Valley Police	2,341		2,769			49	332	11		3,161		428	15.46%	820	25.94%
41	Warwickshire Police	1,188		1,176			35	62	11		1,284		-12	-1.02%	96	7.48%
42	West Mercia Police	1,228		1,194			54	127	12		1,387		-34	-2.85%	159	11.46%
43	West Midlands Police	11,230		11,532			155	665			12,352		302	2.62%	1,122	9.08%
44	West Yorkshire Police	4,399		5,203			231				5,434		804	15.45%	1,035	19.05%
45	Wiltshire Police	391		469							469		78	16.63%	78	16.63%
		87,452		107,734	521	2	2,360	4,549	544		115,710		20,282	18.83%	28,258	24.42%