Firearms per 100,000 people by police force area, England and Wales
Accredited official statistics
Firearms covered by certificates on issue at 31 March per 100,000 people in each police force area in England and Wales, in the latest year and the year before, from the Home Office's statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates.
England and Wales
1,009 per 100,000 people
31 Mar 2026 · from Table 2
Verified against source, 4 November 2026, 22:14 UTC- 31 Mar 2026
- 31 Mar 2025
Source: Home Office. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
43 rows
| Area | 31 Mar 2026 | 31 Mar 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| North Yorkshire E23000009 | 3,008 per 100,000 people | 2,992.53 per 100,000 people |
| Dyfed-Powys W15000004 | 2,998 per 100,000 people | 2,967.27 per 100,000 people |
| Cumbria E23000002 | 2,407 per 100,000 people | 2,426.18 per 100,000 people |
| West Mercia E23000016 | 2,179 per 100,000 people | 2,095.67 per 100,000 people |
| Norfolk E23000024 | 2,160 per 100,000 people | 2,205.33 per 100,000 people |
| Devon and Cornwall E23000035 | 2,060 per 100,000 people | 2,078.84 per 100,000 people |
| Wiltshire E23000038 | 2,002 per 100,000 people | 1,965.15 per 100,000 people |
| Suffolk E23000025 | 1,996 per 100,000 people | 2,050.80 per 100,000 people |
| Lincolnshire E23000020 | 1,756 per 100,000 people | 1,757.31 per 100,000 people |
| Gloucestershire E23000037 | 1,669 per 100,000 people | 1,700.83 per 100,000 people |
| Dorset E23000039 | 1,620 per 100,000 people | 1,646.74 per 100,000 people |
| North Wales W15000001 | 1,551 per 100,000 people | 1,537.05 per 100,000 people |
| Durham E23000008 | 1,522 per 100,000 people | 1,559.57 per 100,000 people |
| Sussex E23000033 | 1,494 per 100,000 people | 1,538.14 per 100,000 people |
| Warwickshire E23000017 | 1,470 per 100,000 people | 1,551.87 per 100,000 people |
| Derbyshire E23000018 | 1,397 per 100,000 people | 1,404.71 per 100,000 people |
| Avon and Somerset E23000036 | 1,357 per 100,000 people | 1,351.85 per 100,000 people |
| Kent E23000032 | 1,339 per 100,000 people | 1,336.45 per 100,000 people |
| Staffordshire E23000015 | 1,279 per 100,000 people | 1,280.25 per 100,000 people |
| Humberside E23000012 | 1,275 per 100,000 people | 1,301.88 per 100,000 people |
| Essex E23000028 | 1,197 per 100,000 people | 1,200.81 per 100,000 people |
| Cambridgeshire E23000023 | 1,166 per 100,000 people | 1,186.44 per 100,000 people |
| Northamptonshire E23000022 | 1,165 per 100,000 people | 1,170.60 per 100,000 people |
| Gwent W15000002 | 1,119 per 100,000 people | 1,130.82 per 100,000 people |
| Hampshire E23000030 | 1,065 per 100,000 people | 1,076.16 per 100,000 people |
| Cheshire E23000006 | 1,042 per 100,000 people | 1,035.72 per 100,000 people |
| Surrey E23000031 | 1,036 per 100,000 people | 1,066.11 per 100,000 people |
| Northumbria E23000007 | 950 per 100,000 people | 959.06 per 100,000 people |
| Thames Valley E23000029 | 944 per 100,000 people | 934.63 per 100,000 people |
| Lancashire E23000003 | 866 per 100,000 people | 848.32 per 100,000 people |
| Bedfordshire E23000026 | 818 per 100,000 people | 843.80 per 100,000 people |
| South Yorkshire E23000011 | 811 per 100,000 people | 794.62 per 100,000 people |
| Leicestershire E23000021 | 809 per 100,000 people | 785.46 per 100,000 people |
| Cleveland E23000013 | 784 per 100,000 people | 776.86 per 100,000 people |
| Hertfordshire E23000027 | 784 per 100,000 people | 793.97 per 100,000 people |
| Nottinghamshire E23000019 | 713 per 100,000 people | 719.22 per 100,000 people |
| South Wales W15000003 | 691 per 100,000 people | 693.33 per 100,000 people |
| West Yorkshire E23000010 | 552 per 100,000 people | 566.89 per 100,000 people |
| Greater Manchester E23000005 | 338 per 100,000 people | 337.28 per 100,000 people |
| Merseyside E23000004 | 334 per 100,000 people | 333.57 per 100,000 people |
| West Midlands E23000014 | 318 per 100,000 people | 313.64 per 100,000 people |
| Metropolitan Police E23000001 | 181 per 100,000 people | 185.18 per 100,000 people |
| London, City of E23000034 | not listed | not listed |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Home Office
- Check it yourself
- https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/firearm-certificates-in-england-and-wales
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 4 November 2026, 22:11 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://www.gov.uk/api/content/government/statistics/firearm-and-shotgun-certificates-april-2025-to-march-2026SHA-256 fc9f6262ed1688de53514cdd1316f7479d62a462dc1fcf36bfe89d0043878123 · 18,861 bytes
- https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a2bf04e15f2a70fac7e5e9a/firearm-shotgun-certificates-2025-2026-open-data-tables.xlsxSHA-256 17538b5cfffb07b3354549884ea4c478a48cfe3a28d4da7397b9746766104450 · 6,495,840 bytes
- https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a2bf02615f2a70fac7e5e99/firearm-shotgun-certificates-2025-2026-tables.odsSHA-256 030b03b5c417cbe4e86f3551c1f7abfa3baea5b82193f6465155301459a184ba · 113,860 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 4 November 2026, 22:14 UTC Run at 4 November 2026, 22:14 UTC; 86 of 86 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Home Office; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-11-04T22:11:27Z; 3 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 3 of 3 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 86 of 86 figures and the headline reproduced; the meta's missing match |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 86 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 86 of 86 figures match exactly after downloading 3 source file(s) again (3 byte-identical); the headline matches; the meta's missing match |
| Pass | GOV.UK table is current | latest period 2026-03-31 ended 218 days before retrieval (limit 480), from Firearm and shotgun certificates, April 2025 to March 2026: open data tables |
| Pass | Table 2 of the same release agrees | 43 of 43 forces' figures at 2026-03-31 match Table_2's 'Firearms per 100,000 people as at 31 March', gaps included |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/firearm-certificates-in-england-and-wales – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- Firearms covered by certificates on issue at 31 March, per 100,000 people, as the Home Office gives them in its open data tables. England and Wales's figure is the Home Office's own, from Table 2 of the same release.
- The Home Office works out each rate from the ONS's mid-year population estimates, and revises the year before to the latest estimates with each release (its note 8). It gives no rate for the City of London, whose population is under 100,000, so the open data lists none.
- The Home Office counts each certificate holder in the police force area of their primary address, which may not be where their weapons are kept.