Knife crime has surged to the highest levels since records began in England and Wales, new figures reveal.

Murder and manslaughter figures also reached a 10-year high in 2018, when 732 people were killed.

Police recorded almost 44,500 offences involving knives or sharp weapons – a rise of 6 per cent – including 252 homicides and 368 attempted murders.

“The volume of knife crime offences has increased by 33 per cent since the year ending March 2011,” the Office for National Statistics said, the earliest year for which there is comparable data.

The crimes included almost 19,000 assaults, 17,400 robberies, and 3,200 threats to kill.

The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Show all 21 1 /21 The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Oluwadamilolda Odeyingbo Oluwadamilolda Odeyingbo, 18, was killed in a fight in Chislehurst on 10 January 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Hasan Ozcan Hasan Ozcan, 19, was stabbed to death on the Gascoigne Estate in Barking on 3 February 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Sabri Chibani Sabri Chibani, 19, was stabbed fatally in the chest in Streatham on 11 February 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Promise Nkenda Lord Promise Nkenda, 17, was stabbed to death in Canning Town on 14 February 2018 Facebook The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Lewis Blackman Lewis Blackman, a 19-year-old rapper from Kentish Town, was stabbed to death in Kensington on 18 February 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Abdikarim Hassan Abdikarim Hassan, 17, was stabbed to death near his home in Camden's Peckwater estate on 20 March - less tahan two hours before another man was stabbed to death nearby Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Kelvin Odunuyi Kelvin Odunuyi, a 19-year-old rapper known as DipDat and Lampz, was shot dead in Wood Green on 8 March Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Lyndon Davis Lyndon Davis, 18, was chased down and stabbed to death in Chadwell Heath on 14 March Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Tanesha Melbourne-Blake Tanesha Melbourne, 17, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Tottenham on 2 April PA The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Amaan Shakoor Amaan Shakoor, 16, was shot dead in Walthamstow on 2 April Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Israel Ogunsola Israel Ogunsola, 18, was stabbed to death in Hackney on 4 April Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, a 17-year-old rapper and aspiring architect, was shot dead in a Kennington Street on 5 May Handout The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Jordan Douherty Aspiring rapper Jordan Douherty died of his injuries outside a birthday party in Romford on 23 June Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Katrina Makunova Katrina Makunova, 17, was stabbed to death in Camberwell on 12 July 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Latwaan Griffiths 18-year-old Latwaan Griffiths was fatally stabbed on 25 July and died in hospital after being thrown off the back of a moped in Camberwell Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Guled Farah Guled Farah, 19, was shot in Walthamstow on 22 September Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Ethan Nedd-Bruce Ethan Nedd-Bruce, 18, died after he was shot outside a party at a flat in Greenwich, south-east London, on 22 October. He had also been stabbed, but the gunshot wound was the cause of death. Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Jay Hughes Jay Hughes, 15, died was fatally stabbed outside a chicken shop in Bellingham, south-east London, on 1 November Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Malcolm Mide-Madariola Malcolm Mide-Madariola, 17, was found suffering from a stab wound outside Clapham South Tube station on 2 November Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 John Ogunjobi John Ogunjobi, 16, died in front of his parents after he was stabbed in Greenleaf Close, Tulse Hill, on 5 November Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Aron Warren Aron Warren, 18, was found stabbed in a flat block in Greenwich on 8 December and died at the scene Metropolitan Police

Knives were used in more than 400 rapes in the year to December, as well as 150 other sexual assaults.

The figures do not include knife possession, which is also rising amid warnings children as young as nine are carrying weapons in fear for their lives.

The statistics were revealed the morning after an 18-year-old was stabbed to death in Birmingham, and two men were left with life-threatening injuries in a knife attack in east London.

Seven people were stabbed in seven hours in the capital on Tuesday.

Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the increase in violent crime was “very disturbing” as separate figures showed falling numbers of arrests.

“The police are completely overstretched and crime prevention work is far too limited,” the Labour MP added.

“The Home Office and government response on knife crime and other rising crimes is still far too weak and just doesn’t match the scale of the problem.

“The problem of violent crime is going to get worse unless the government acts, and it is families and communities across the country who are paying a terrible price.”

The government has named the drugs market and social media as drivers of violent crime, and has pledged to tackle it with a “public health approach” and programmes under the Serious Violence Strategy.

(ONS (ONS)

But police say funding cuts that caused the loss of more than 20,000 officers since 2010 have hampered their ability to prevent and investigate stabbings, while charities have attacked slashed youth-service budgets.

As the prime minister held a knife-crime summit at Downing Street earlier this month, she was accused of holding personal responsibility for the bloodshed, after six years in charge of policing as home secretary.

“What she’s done to policing is unforgivable and she’s now seeing the impact of that,” said John Apter, chair of the Police Federation.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said forces needed further long-term funding to deal with the raised terror threat, rising crime and more complex cases like modern slavery, child sexual exploitation and cybercrime.

Chief Constable Bill Skelly, the lead for crime recording and statistics, said: “We know that there are real rises in serious crime, such as robbery, violence and knife crime and our tactics to tackle serious violence such as targeted intelligence-led stop and search, disrupting gangs and working with local NHS trusts are showing success and we are committed to doing all we can to bring crime down.”

Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, called the figures “deeply troubling”.

“Ministers are in denial, refusing to accept that their cuts to police forces have had any impact either on crime levels or the ability to apprehend the criminals,” she added.

“The government is failing in one of its most basic duties, to protect its own citizens. These reckless cuts must end.”

Sajid Javid has extended police powers of stop and search without suspicion (PA)

The Metropolitan Police’s own figures showed an apparent drop in homicides, stabbings and gun crime in the capital. Knife injuries fell nearly 10 per cent from 4,732 to 4,277 and gun offences fell 6.8 per cent, according to Scotland Yard.

The policing minister Nick Hurd said the chance of being a victim of crime “remains low”.

“More recent Metropolitan Police figures suggest that action to tackle violent crime is having an impact,” he added.

“Yet too many people are still falling victim to serious violence, which is why we will continue our urgent and unprecedented action to reverse this terrible trend.

“We have given police forces additional powers and have this year put more than £1bn extra into policing, including council tax and £100m specifically for those areas worst affected by violent crime.

“But law enforcement alone is not the answer which is why our Serious Violence Strategy puts a greater focus on prevention, including by consulting on a proposed new duty to underpin a public health approach to serious violence and investing over £220m in projects to steer young people away from crime.”

The ONS statistics also showed an 11 per cent rise in robbery – both using knives and other violence – and 2 per cent rise in vehicle offences.

The separate Crime Survey of England and Wales, which represents people’s experiences of crime rather than what police record, showed an 8 per cent increase in theft and 23 per cent increase in theft from outside homes.