Electricity theft

Request Number: FOI/16314

Category: Incident and Crime Statistics - Burglary and Theft

Subject: Electricity theft

Request and Answer: 
Your request for information has now been considered. In respect of Section 1(1)(a) of the Act we can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does hold information to which your request relates. The decision has been taken to disclose the following.

Question 1
How many crimes reports logged under "Theft Act 1968: Section 13 (for abstraction of electricity)” in 2023, 2024 and to October 2025 – broken down annually.

Question 2
Of those, how many suspected to be for the cultivation or manufacture of illegal drugs - broken down annually.

Answers 1 and 2
The following table is based on all recorded Dishonest use of electricity offences during the period January 2023 to October 2025. 

Occurrences where both a Dishonest use of Electricity offence and an offence related to the production of illegal drugs have been recorded are provided as a subset of the total number of recorded Dishonest use of Electricity offences. 

Production of illegal drugs offences include:  Being concerned in production of a controlled drug, Permitting production of drugs on premises, and cultivating cannabis.

Please Note: Figures for offences recorded from 1st April 2025 are subject to ongoing validation and quality assurance processes until publication in May 2026; annual revisions to previously published financial year figures may also be applied at this time.