A total of 2 071 487 serious crimes were committed in South Africa in 2010/11, according to the crime statistics released by the SA Police Service on Thursday.

This compared to 2 121 887 cases registered during 2009/10.

"This means that the total number of serious crimes was reduced by 2.4% or 50 400 cases," according to the Crime Report 2010/2011 for April 2010 to March 2011.

This exceeded government's target of reducing serious crime by one to 1.8% a year.

The ratio of serious crime per 100 000 of the population decreased 3.7% from 4 302.1 to 4 143.6.

If three categories of crime which increase if police are doing their job – drug-related crimes, possession of illegal firearms and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs – were excluded from the figures, then total serious crime for the year under review was 1 839 645.

"Crime detected as a result of police action should increase if the police actually do what they are supposed to be doing and should thus logically not be included among those crimes which are expected to decrease if the police are effective in their crime combating efforts," according to the report.

This was a decline from the year before where the figure, with the three crimes excluded, was 1 909 566 serious crimes.

Around a third of total crimes were contact crimes, about a quarter were other serious crimes and a quarter property-related crimes.

Eleven per cent were crimes detected as a result of police action, and 6% were contact-related crimes.

The highest ratio of reported murder was recorded in the Eastern Cape, followed by the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State.

The highest incidence of all reported sexual offences was in the Western Cape, followed by the Free State and Northern Cape.

"The increases in sexual offences of 8.6% in the Free State, 6.6% in North West and 5.2% in the Northern Cape are cause for concern."

The highest incidence of attempted murder during 2010/11 was recorded in the Northern Cape, followed by the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

All the provinces except the Western Cape showed decreasing trends in attempted murder.

The 29.8% increase in the Western Cape was of grave concern, according to the report.

The highest ratio of assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm – twice the national ratio – was in the Northern Cape.

The Western Cape had the highest incidence of common assault, followed by the Free State and Gauteng, while the lowest level was recorded in Limpopo.

The highest incidence of aggravated robbery – at a ratio nearly twice the national average – was in Gauteng, followed by the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

However, aggravated robbery declined in Gauteng by 20.3% and KwaZulu-Natal by 17.3%. It was marginally higher in the Western Cape.

"Since most aggravated robberies occur in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the significant reductions recorded there are a most positive development," according to the report.

Some 80.5% of all reported carjackings took place in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Gauteng made up 55.9% and KwaZulu-Natal 24.6% of this crime.

Gauteng also had the most robberies at residential premises at 41.7%, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 23.7%.

"Most of the provinces experienced decreases, except the Free State with a 19.1% increase and the Western Cape with a 4.1% increase."

Robberies at non-residential premises were also highest in Gauteng at 37.9% and KwaZulu-Natal at 13.2% – although these two provinces were the only two to experience decreases in this crime.

"The Eastern Cape with a 30.2%, Western Cape with a 23.7% and Limpopo with a 20% increase are a particular cause for concern."

The crime figures are based on how many crimes in a category occur per 100 000 people.