New figures from the Central Statistics Office show an increase of 44% in robbery, extortion and hijacking offences in the north western region.
That's higher than the national increase of 26% when comparing Q4 of 2023 to the same period in 2022, according to the figures first published in The Farmers Journal.
There was a 22% increase in theft which is again higher than the national increase of 12% while there was a drop in public order and other social code offences between the two periods.
The largest decrease was in the north western region, which saw a fall of 10%.