Experts said the rise in the number of reported rapes and sexual offences was due in part to high profile historic cases like Jimmy Savile 's . A surge in the number of sex attacks reported to police has fuelled the first rise in recorded crime for more than a decade . Nearly 3.8million crimes were recorded by police last year , an increase of 2 per cent from 2013 , figures released yesterday revealed . And a record number of rapes and other sex crimes were logged – up by a third ( 32 per cent ) to 80,200 , or 220 a day . But experts say the rise – the first since 2003-04 – was partly because victims were 'more willing ' to report sex crimes , including historical ones , and police were more likely to take complaints seriously , in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal . Fay Maxted , chief executive of the Survivors Trust , which represents more than 130 rape and sexual violence charities , said : 'Under-reporting is a real problem in sexual offence cases . 'One of the effects of Operation Yewtree , in the wake of Savile , has been it has brought sexual cases to the fore . The convictions of Rolf Harris and Stuart Hall have encouraged people to feel justified in coming forward . ' The Office for National Statistics , which published the data , said the rise was also due to police recording complaints more accurately after accusations of 'fiddling ' figures to meet targets . A police watchdog recently found a fifth of crimes were not being logged properly . The latest ONS figures showed that the number of murders and manslaughter cases in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level for 38 years . Police recorded 515 homicides last year , 37 fewer than in 2013 . But the number of rapes recorded was the highest ever at 26,703 , which is an average of 73 attacks every day . Rapes at knifepoint were up by 31 per cent to 311 attacks and there were 53,559 other sexual offences recorded . Violent offences also jumped by 21 per cent to nearly 741,000 . The ONS report said of the overall rise in recorded crime : 'This is the first increase since 2003-04 but needs to be seen in the context of the renewed focus on the quality of crime recording . ' The high-profile convictions of Rolf Harris ( left ) and Stuart Hall ( right ) have made victims feel more confident about coming forward , said campaigners . The number of crimes logged by police is still 20 per cent lower than in 2008-09 – under the last Labour government . The picture was complicated by figures from the Crime Survey of England and Wales , which found a 7 per cent fall in overall crime to 6.9million incidents , the lowest level since 1981 . The survey , which looks at people 's experiences of crimes , includes incidents not reported to police . But some crimes , such as bank and credit card frauds , are left out , distorting the true rate of offending . Home Secretary Theresa May said the data showed 'police reform is working ' and that crime 'has never been lower , meaning families are safer ' . But her Labour shadow , Yvette Cooper , claimed that the ONS figures 'expose the shocking complacency of David Cameron and Theresa May over crime and policing ' .
Nearly 3.8million crimes were recorded by the police last year . The figures are based on a survey of more than 100,000 people carried out in England and Wales between April 2014 and March 2015.