There was 2480 criminal incidents in 2023 - about 6.7 incidents per day - up 12.5 per cent from the previous year.

In Horsham, family violence order breaches increased more than 30 percent to 211 incidents in 2023, up from 150 a year earlier. Similarly, breaches of bail conditions were up more than 25 per cent with 168 incidents.

Assault increased by 40 per cent while criminal damage increased by almost 12 per cent.

Deputy Commissioner Regional Operations Neil Paterson APM drew some positives from an otherwise sombre report. "[Crime has] gradually increased over the past few years as Victorian life has returned to normality..." he said.

"When population is considered, Victoria pleasingly still has its third lowest crime rate at any point over the past decade - ahead of only 2022 and the COVID-marred 2021.

"While this is positive, that doesn't mean there aren't areas of concern."

There were 523,523 criminal offences recorded in Victoria in the 2023 calendar year, representing an increase of 40,351 offences or 8.4 per cent from 2022.

The data release represented the first time since early 2020 that the two most recent reporting periods were unaffected by COVID-19 restrictions.

Victoria police noted while there were no restrictions in place throughout 2022, "society took time to return to normality...".

"Crime in Victoria has taken a similar pathway, gradually increasing back towards pre-pandemic levels rather than rapidly snapping back," Victoria Police said in a statement.

"This is reiterated by the latest data released today, which reveals overall crime in Victoria remains 2.3 per cent below the 2019 calendar year."

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Regional Victoria recorded high crime rates across dozens of local government areas, notching three of the top five LGAs with the highest offence rates per 100,000 people.

Latrobe Shire, centred on Traralgon in central Gippsland had the highest offence rate, with 15,187 per 100,000 people.

Mitchell Shire, next to Bendigo, was next with 14,037, then Horsham with 13,532.

But while offence rates were broadly comparable between Melbourne and regional Victoria, family incidents - including family violence, child abuse and interfamilial sexual offences - occurred at a much higher rate in country areas.

Ararat was a hotspot for general sexual offences, with a rate 60 per cent higher than the next worst LGA, Central Goldfields.

Swan Hill, Horsham, Shepparton and Latrobe recorded the highest rates of serious assault, while Shepparton was comfortably the worst place for family violence-related serious assaults.

Mildura and Ballarat were the car theft capitals of regional Victoria, while Bendigo and Shepparton were hot spots for dangerous driving.

Buloke in the state's north-west was the drug trafficker's shire of choice, with double the rate of runners up Bendigo and Shepparton.

Mildura, Shepparton and Latrobe had the highest rates of home burglary.

Mildura and Latrobe also had the worst rates of aggravated burglary, with Shepparton dropping down the list and Ballarat and Wodonga taking its place.

Deputy Commissioner Paterson said child offending remains a real challenge for police.

"Much of the child and youth offending we're seeing is mindless and driven by the pursuit of notoriety or social media likes," he said.

"This is highlighted by the fact that police recovered 94% of vehicles stolen during aggravated burglaries as part of Operation Trinity - cars stolen purely for joy riding and no financial gain."