Nunavut's crime rate rose by two per cent in 2017, according to new Statistics Canada data released Monday morning.

That was double the one per cent increase in the crime rate recorded nationally last year. However, it was an improvement on the five per cent jump in crime logged in Nunavut in 2016.

The number of crimes per capita in Nunavut was the second-highest in Canada in 2017, with only the Northwest Territories showing a higher level.

In another measure of criminal offences, Nunavut's crime severity index (CSI) -- a formula used to gauge the "scale of seriousness" of crime -- rose by one per cent in 2017. It had risen by seven per cent a year earlier.

All three Canadian territories and six Canadian provinces recorded increases in CSI last year. The national CSI rate climbed by two per cent, twice that of Nunavut.

However, the number of sexual assaults reported by police declined by six per cent in Nunavut in 2017, compared to a 13 per cent increase Canada-wide.

Broken down by community, these are the highest CSI rates within the territory, according to Statistics Canada:
Iqaluit = 60,563.73
Cambridge Bay = 46,392.79
Cape Dorset = 44,115.83
Kugluktuk = 39,903.85
Rankin Inlet = 36,220.22
Pangnirtung = 29,022.65
Gjoa Haven = 28,504.04
Pond Inlet = 26,871.51
Igloolik = 26,833.63
Clyde River = 26,562.5
Nunavut = 34,948

Fact file
Crime severity index indicators
Change in violent crime: 9.62 per cent
Change in non-violent crime: -3.71 per cent
Change in youth crime: 0.77 per cent
Source: Statistics Canada