WASHINGTON - Preliminary 2009 statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) show that violent crime in the nation decreased 5.5 percent and property crime declined 4.9 percent when compared with data from 2008.

The FBI??s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, which was released on Monday, includes data from 13,237 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 months of data in both 2008 and 2009.

This is the third consecutive year that violent crime has dropped, according to FBI data. Violent crime decreased 1.9 percent in 2008 and 0.7 percent in 2007.

Among the results in the FBI??s latest report:

• All four violent crime offenses ?" murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault ?" declined nationwide in 2009 when compared with 2008 data. Robbery dropped 8.1 percent, murder decreased 7.2 percent, aggravated assault declined 4.2 percent, and forcible rape decreased 3.1 percent.
• Violent crime fell in all city groupings. The largest decrease, 7.5 percent, was in cities with populations ranging from 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants. Violent crime declined 4.0 percent in the nation??s metropolitan counties and 3.0 percent in nonmetropolitan counties.
• Cities with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants were the only city population group to report an increase in the number of murders, 5.3 percent. The number of murders in the nation??s nonmetropolitan counties also rose 1.8 percent.
• All population groups reported decreases in the volume of robbery in 2009. Of the city groups, cities with populations of 100,000 to 249,999 had the largest decrease at 10.3 percent. Metropolitan counties reported a 6.7 percent drop in robberies; nonmetropolitan counties reported a 0.7 percent decline.
• The number of aggravated assaults declined in all population groups, with cities of 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants reporting a 6.3 percent decrease. Aggravated assaults declined 3.7 percent in nonmetropolitan counties and 3.0 percent in metropolitan counties.
• All property crime offenses ?" burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft ?" decreased in 2009 when compared with 2008 data. Motor vehicle theft showed the largest drop in volume at 17.2 percent, larceny-thefts declined 4.2 percent, and burglaries decreased 1.7 percent.
• The nation??s largest cities, 1 million or more inhabitants, reported the greatest decrease, 7.9 percent, in property crime overall. Of the city groupings, this population group also reported the biggest decreases in the offenses that comprise property crime: a 21.1 percent drop in motor vehicle theft, a 5.7 percent decline in burglary, and a 5.5 percent decrease in larceny-theft. In the nation??s nonmetropolitan counties, larceny-thefts fell 9.5 percent; in metropolitan counties, larceny-thefts declined 5.9 percent.

The complete 2009 Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report is available online.