A rise in reported rapes has been attributed to a growing confidence among victims to report domestic sexual violence.

Police Scotland chief constable Sir Stephen House said that a 24% rise in reported rape could indicate that sexual domestic abuse victims are putting more trust in the police.

Scottish Government figures confirmed that total recorded crime has hit a 40-year low - but the decrease has not been uniform with 10 areas recording an increase on the previous year.

Longer-term Scottish crime trends are more positive, with every local authority recording a decrease of between 29% and 54% since 2004/05.

New Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said police have made good progress in tackling domestic abuse and related sexual violence.

Just under three-quarters (73%) of rapes were "cleared up" by Police Scotland - referred for prosecution or dismissed through extenuating circumstances - a rise of 11 percentage points on the previous year.

More than three-quarters (76%) of all sexual crimes were resolved, although clear-up rates vary widely, with 18 of Scotland's 32 local authority areas falling below the national average.

Just 56% of sexual crimes were cleared up in East Renfrewshire and 63% in West Dunbartonshire, compared with 104% in Orkney and 132% in Eilean Siar, where sex crimes from previous years were cleared up in 2013/14.

Sir Stephen said: "Crime across the country is at a 40-year low and the detection rate is the highest it has ever been. Violent crime is down 10% across the country.

"We have seen an increase in sexual violence being reported to us but actually, and it might seem slightly perverse, we take that as people with increased confidence coming forward to tell us about crimes that they haven't previously reported.

"But also in relation to domestic abuse, we are seeing a lot more rapes being reported to us that have taken place in a domestic abuse situation.

"That is something that we take some heart from because we feel that victims are coming forward, trusting the police far more, talking to our partner and voluntary agencies, and we are already starting to deal with that in a much more effective way."

Mr Matheson said: "It is important to recognise the significant progress that is being made.

"We are making good progress in targeting particular groups of crime that have been identified by Police Scotland as being a priority, for example domestic violence and increasing people's confidence about how we tackle these issues.

"It has resulted in an increase in the reporting of crimes of a sexually-violent nature in domestic violence.

"I want to make sure that we continue to build on that and I have got absolutely no doubt that we have got the skills and talent within Police Scotland and the prosecution service to be able to do that."

The clear-up rate for sexual crimes increased by eight percentage points to 76%, a return to levels seen ten years ago.

Fife has the highest proportion of sexual crimes per head (26 per 100,000), closely followed by Glasgow (25 per 100,000).

A massive rise in housebreaking and theft in Scotland's capital has led to an increase in recorded crime in the city - most of which remains unsolved.

Recorded crime is up 14% in Edinburgh, driven largely by a 75% increase in crimes of dishonesty, and in particular housebreaking and other theft.

The clear-up rate for all crime in the capital was among the lowest in Scotland, with just 40% leading to a prosecution, warning or dismissal by extenuating circumstances - and the clear-up rate for crimes of dishonesty was even lower at just 30%.

Sir Stephen said: "This is due to a real outbreak of break-ins to sheds - many, many hundreds of people's garden sheds and outbuildings getting broken into.

"It's a very high volume of relatively low value thefts - an epidemic which is now going on.

"It's very opportunistic, but it's also pretty organised with people going out and doing 10 to 20 a night."

Chief Superintendent Mark Williams, divisional commander for Edinburgh, said: "In December last year, we re-introduced our housebreaking teams through Operation RAC.

"Within a few months, £463,989 worth of stolen property was recovered and returned to rightful owners, with a reduction of almost 33% in housebreakings in the east neighbourhood area alone. These reductions have been sustained and continue to be delivered.

"Rises in recorded crime were also generated as a result of a more robust approach to domestic abuse. For example, in Edinburgh, the number of common assaults linked to domestic abuse rose by 78% when comparing 2013-14 with 2012-13."

East Renfrewshire has the worst crime clear-up rate in Scotland (35%) with a quarter of crimes of dishonesty cleared up and just 14% of fire-raising and vandalism incidents dealt with - although the area has seen the biggest fall in recorded crime (17%) outside Eilean Siar (30%).

The largest rises in recorded crime were in the east, with Midlothian, Fife, East Lothian, West Lothian, Angus and Dundee all recording increases of between 3% and 8%. Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and the Borders also recorded increases of between 1% and 3%.

Recorded crime in Glasgow fell by 4% but it remains Scotland's crime capital with 852 crimes per 100,000 people, followed by Edinburgh with 731 per head, Aberdeen with 678 and Dundee with 622 - compared with a Scotland-wide average of 508 crimes per head.