WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Violent crime in the United States declined in 2008 , due in part to a significant drop in the number of murders , according to the first available FBI figures covering the entire year . The decline would be the third straight year-to-year drop in violent crime in the United States . The preliminary figures for 2008 , released Monday , show that overall reported crime dropped 2.5 percent nationally from the previous year , including a 4.4 percent decline in murders . Although crime statistics varied sharply from city to city , the overall number of reported murders declined 9.1 percent in cities with populations of 100,000 to 250,000 . However , murders increased 5.5 percent in towns of fewer than 10,000 residents . Overall , the number of aggravated assaults declined 3.2 percent , forcible rape decreased 2.2 percent , and robbery decreased 1.1 percent . The Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report historically provides a strong indication of the final figures that will be compiled and released later in the year . The statistics are based on a compilation of crime reports provided to the FBI by the more than 12,000 law enforcement agencies in the nation . The report shows a small increase in violent crime in the second half of the year . Figures for the first half of 2008 , which were released in early January , showed that overall violent crime through the end of June had declined 3.5 percent , compared with the 2.5 percent decline for the entire year . Other results in the year-end figures were a 1.6 percent drop in reported property crimes from 2007 , including a 13.1 percent decline in motor vehicle thefts . Violent crime in the United States has largely been on the decline over the past two decades . In 2005 , however , a surprising increase prompted headlines of an end to the drop in violence . Monday 's figures show that the downward trend has resumed . After the 2005 violent crime increase of 2.3 percent , the figures increased only 1.9 percent in 2006 and then dropped 0.7 percent in 2007 before the decline of 2.5 percent in the preliminary 2008 figures .
Preliminary data : U.S. violent crime in 2008 dropped 2.5 percent from 2007 . Murders declined 4.4 percent but rose in towns of fewer than 10,000 people . Drop in violent crime would be third consecutive year-to-year decline . Violent crime in the U.S. has largely been declining over the past two decades .