All high volume property and many violent crimes fell sharply in April 2020 in line with measures to reduce the spread of the pandemic.

Since then offending has increased, but in most cases is yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

For the latest 24 months, all 14 NSW Statistical Areas recorded a significant downward trend in property crime.

The Central West was down 13.4 percent; by comparison Greater Sydney was down 19.5 percent, Far West and Orana was down by 19.8 percent, Riverina was down 13.6 percent and Mid North Coast was down 12.7 percent.

The executive director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), Jackie Fitzgerald acknowledged the effect COVID-19 has had on crime.

"There has been a drop in crimes such as break and enter across the state; the results of COVID stimulus payments and, to a lesser extent, more people working from home," Ms Fitzgerald said.

"Though we do find that regional communities have a higher rate of violent crimes than the city,"

"It's hard to know [why], but it's been long observed, and it's the reality of how crime plays out."

She said that in bigger cities, for example, there is a greater rate of robbery.

An exception to the decrease in crimes across the state is sexual assault, which rose 10 per cent year-on-year to September 2020, which is the only offence to show a significant upward trend over that period.

The increase in sexual assault is due to a rise in contemporary child sexual assault reports (that is, not historic child sex reports or adult victimisation).

Closer to home, Parkes has shown a 33.3 per cent increase in motor vehicle theft over the 24 months to September 2020, though violent offenses have seen a 4.1 per cent decrease and property offences have gone down 10.5 per cent in the last 60 months.

Number of recorded criminal incidents over the 12 months to September 2020 for Parkes LGA