Released on Thursday, March 17, the new data contains Victoria's crime statistics for the year ending in December 2021.

The total number of criminal incidents in the Northern Grampians rose by 0.4 per cent from December 2020 to 2021, an increase of 834 incidents in 2020 compared to 837 in 2021.

Of the region's criminal incidents, 46.1 per cent resulted in charged being laid, 29 per cent resulted in no charges and 24.9 remained unresolved.

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Breaching a family violence order was the most common type of offence committed in the Northern Grampians, followed by drug possession, criminal damage and theft.

The majority of crime occurred in Stawell, with 507 criminal incidents during the reporting period - compared with 150 in St Arnaud, 54 in Great Western and 37 in Halls Gap.

Most offending occurred either in a household, with 266 incidents, or on the street, with 189 incidents.

Across the state, the rate of recorded offences decreased 12.6 per cent in the past 12 months.

The overall victimisation rate also decreased, with 14,500 less victims of crime than during 2020 - the lowest number since 2010.

Victoria Police deputy commissioner for regional operations Rick Nugent said a "highly-unique environment" in Victorian contributed to the overall decrease in crime.

"While each victim of crime is one person too many, we are pleased that last year we had the lowest number of victims in Victoria since 2010," he said.

"While it is likely that overall crime will increase as the community returns to normality, the early signs are relatively positive.

"To date, we have not seen a rapid return across all crime categories, with police intelligence indicating overall offending still remains below pre-pandemic levels."

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