A total of 1,01,928 cases were registered under cybercrime in 2024, compared to 86,420 in the previous year. | Photo credit: Reuters
India’s overall crime rate decreased in 2024 compared to 2023, but cybercrime cases increased by more than 17%, 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 cybercrime in 2024, compared to 86,420 in the previous year.
“During 2024, 72.6% of registered cybercrime cases were motivated by fraud (73,987 out of 1,01,928 cases), followed by sexual exploitation at 3.1% (3,190 cases) and extortion at 2.5% (2,536 cases),” the report said.
The NCRB recorded 58.86 lakh crimes across the country in 2024, a 6% decrease from the previous year. Of these, 35.44 million cases were registered under the Indian Penal Code and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and 23.41 million cases under special and local laws.
There were 5,194 cases of “against the state” offenses in 2024, compared to 4,873 cases in 2023, an increase of 6.6%. “Of the 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 of crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs) were registered, a decrease of 3.6% from 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 report on Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) 2024, according to which 1,70,746 suicides were recorded in 2024. Those associated with the agricultural sector, the unemployed and daily wage workers accounted for a substantial proportion of suicide deaths.
In 2024, a total of 10,546 people involved in the agricultural sector (consisting of 4,633 farmers/growers and 5,913 agricultural workers) died by suicide, representing 6.2%. Of the 4,633 farmer/cultivator suicides, a total of 4,481 were male and 152 were female, the report said. About 31% of the total number of suicides were reported among day bets, the report said. The number of unemployed people who died by suicide was 14,778, the number of students and housewives who ended their lives were 14,488 and 22,113, respectively.
Drug overdose deaths have seen a 50% increase in 2024 compared to the previous year. The report said 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 NCRB data.
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Published – 07 May 2026 04:12 IST
