More than 700,000 men were victims of domestic abuse in the last year, shocking new figures reveal.

Men make up more than a third of the 1.9million adults in England and Wales who say they were attacked or abused by spouses or family members in the past year.

The new Office of National Statistics (ONS) report found that, overall, 1.1 million domestic abuse-related incidents were reported to police by men and women in the year ending March 2017.

The number of complaints to police is much lower than the 1.9million recorded in a larger-scale crime survey, which included many people who did not report their abuse to authorities.

The figures are so high partly because the report defines domestic abuse as 'any incident of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse' rather than specific attacks.

The number of male victims of domestic abuse is as close to the number of female victims as it has been in years after stats revealed more than 700,000 reported domestic abuse last year

The stats show that older men and younger women are most likely to be victims of abuse

Despite the number of male victims falling in the last five years, the statistics show male victims now make up a higher percentage of overall victims than in recent years.

The report states: 'The difference between the estimated number of male and female victims (522,000) is at its lowest compared with previous years.'

The report comprises figures taken from the police, the Government and victim support groups, as well as large-scale crime surveys.

Domestic violence killers: The statistics Men suspected of killing wives: 114 Men suspected of killing their female exs: 42 Boyfriends suspected of killing girlfriends: 35 Men suspected of killing male partners: 32 Men suspected of killing love-rival or lover's spouse: 23 Women suspected of killing male partner or ex: 40 Women suspected of killing female partner or ex: 1 Advertisement

But many victims do not see justice, and there were just 46 arrests per 100 domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by 39 police forces last year, the report said.

Police made 93,590 prosecutions for domestic abuse in the year ending March 2017, of which 76% - around 71,000 - secured a conviction.

The figures also show how many people were killed in family or domestic disputes; 319 women and 135 men.

Most of the women killed were attacked by a male partner or ex, whereas the men who died were killed by a male partner or a love rival.

The data also reveals the ages of the victims, with around one in 10 women aged 16 to 19 saying they had been victims.

The figures remained high for women aged 20 to 24, with 9.6% reporting abuse.

As the overall percentage of people who say they are victims of domestic abuse has fallen, the percentage of those who are men has risen

Despite the high number of male victims, CPS stats show men are the defendants in a high proportion of cases and women are the complainants

Beaten husband recorded wife's attacks due to fears he'd be ignored A court heard in September how an abused husband set up a secret camera to film his drunken wife attacking him up because he didn't think police would believe him. Neil Tweedy, 45, endured up to 12 years of violence at the hands of school teacher spouse Helen, including an assault on their wedding night in which she smothered him with a duvet and forced him to sleep on the sofa. But for years Mr Tweedy believed his binge-drinking wife, also 45, would change and failed to report the attacks to authorities. Neil Tweedy recorded his wife's drunken attacks on him over fears he wouldn't be believed. A court heard she even beat him on their wedding night He eventually took action after the couple had a child and she continued with her abusive behaviour towards him. Mrs Tweedy admitted three charges of common assault by beating at Manchester Magistrates Court and was issued with a restraining order banning her from contacting her husband. After the case, he said: 'The problem was just alcohol, she was admitted to hospital twice in the past year and could have died.' He said he didn't support the restraining order as it made shared access to their child difficult. Advertisement

Katie Ghose, chief executive of domestic abuse charity Women's Aid, said ONS data cannot currently offer the 'full picture'.

She said: 'Domestic abuse by its very nature, hidden behind closed doors, is hard to capture in statistics alone.

'Survivors often do not involve official bodies as it takes great courage to report abuse to the police; some women will never speak out because they don't know if they will be believed, are not given the space to make the call or fear the repercussions if they do report the perpetrator to the police.'

Worse five areas for domestic abuse 1. Staffordshire 2. Cleveland 3. Durham 4. Kent 5. South Wales Source: Police force data Advertisement

Reports can encompass emotional and financial abuse as well as sexual abuse and violence.

Durham, Cleveland, Gwent, South Wales and London were among the police areas which reported the most domestic abuse incidents and crimes per 1,000 people last year.

The fewest combined incidents and crimes were recorded in Cheshire, Dyfed-Powys, Surrey, North Yorkshire and Thames Valley.

The stats show the large number of cases that do not lead to successful prosecutions, with victim non-attendance the most common reason for cases failing

Postcode lottery for victims needing help Campaigners have bemoaned a 'postcode lottery' for victim of domestic abuse and violence. Some areas, such as Wales, currently have five times the number of beds as the worst areas. In south-west England, there are only two refuge beds for every 1,000 victims in the area. Advertisement

National Police Chiefs' council lead for domestic abuse, Louisa Rolfe said: 'Today's figures show that we are improving the way that police, prosecutors and wider society understand and deal with cases of domestic abuse.

'More people are coming forward to report this complex and often hidden crime type and as a result we have seen higher levels of prosecutions and arrests overall.

'However, we know that many victims still do not report domestic abuse to us so we are working to give people confidence that police will always act to safeguard victims as a priority, such as through issuing protection orders or working directly with victims' charities.

'No one should live in fear of domestic abuse and every victim should be safer for having contacted the police.'

The stats show fatal attacks on ex-girlfriends usually happen less than a month after splits