This is the fifth year in a row this figure has shown an increase.

In 2020-21, 40 per cent of incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland included the recording of at least one crime or offence.

The type of crime or offence that was most frequently recorded as part of a domestic abuse incident in 2020-21 was common assault, accounting for 32 per cent of all crimes and offences recorded. This was followed by breach of the peace, accounting for 23 per cent of crimes and offences.

Following its enactment on 1 April 2019, crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 accounted for four per cent of crimes and offences recorded as part of a domestic abuse incident in 2020-21.

There were 119 incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland per 10,000 population in 2020-21. At a local authority level, Dundee City (177), West Dunbartonshire (168) and Clackmannanshire (158) recorded the highest incident rates per 10,000 population.

Where gender information was recorded, four-in-five incidents of domestic abuse (80 per cent) in 2020-21 had a female victim and a male accused. This decreased slightly from 82 per cent in 2019-20.

In 2020-21, the 31 to 35 years old age group had the highest incident rate for both victims (282 incidents recorded per 10,000 population) and for the accused (260 incidents recorded per 10,000 population).

Three in ten incidents (31 per cent) occurred at the weekend in 2020-21. This is a slight decrease from 34 per cent in 2019-20.

In 2020-21, Just over nine-in-ten (91 per cent) of all domestic abuse incidents occurred in a home or dwelling.