WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to the FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, the nation experienced a 2.8 percent decline in the number of property crimes last year when compared with data from 2009.

All property crime offenses — burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft —decreased in 2010 when compared with 2009 data. Motor vehicle theft showed the largest drop (7.2 percent), followed by larceny-theft, which decreased 2.8 percent, and burglary, which declined 1.1 percent.

Property crime decreased in all city groupings. Cities with 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants had the greatest decrease in property crime (4.0 percent). Property crime decreased 1.9 percent in metropolitan counties but increased 2.0 percent in non-metropolitan counties.

Motor vehicle thefts declined in all population groupings. Cities with less than 10,000 inhabitants experienced the greatest decline (10.8 percent). Metropolitan counties reported a 6.9 percent decrease in motor vehicle thefts.

All four of the nation’s regions had decreases in property crime in 2010 when compared with data from 2009. The greatest decrease in 2010 was in the South, where property crime was down 3.8 percent, followed by a 2.7 percent decline in the Midwest, a 2.5 percent decrease in the West, and a 0.5 percent decrease in the Northeast.

The report is based on information the FBI gathered from 13,007 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 comparable months of data for both 2009 and 2010. For more information, click here.