Violent crime in the United States continued to drop in 2013, reaching its lowest rate since the late 1970s.

The FBI's Uniform Crime Report revealed that 1.16 million violent crimes were committed last year, which is the lowest number on record since 1978 when 1.09 million crimes were recorded.

According to the FBI, violent crime, including murders and property offenses, fell at about the same rate last year, slightly above 4 percent.

The crime rate has fallen every year on record since 1994, while 2013 rate was around 50 percent less than the number in 1994.

Compared to 2012, the annual crime report stated that murder in 2013 was by down 4.4 percent; robbery dropped by 2.8 percent; aggravated assault fell by 5 percent; and rape decreased by 6.3 percent.

Property crimes also declined for the 11th consecutive year, and in 2013 it fell by 4.1 percent to an estimated 8.63 million.

James Alan Fox, a criminology expert at Northeastern University in Boston, attributes the decline in violent crime in recent decades to a number of different factors, including the fact that the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Other factors include the aging population, improved police tactics, an increase in the number of security cameras and the use of smartphones to take videos.

"It's hard for criminals to do anything without being caught on video," he said, according to Reuters.

California, which passed a voter-approved initiative last week that reclassifies nonviolent felonies like shoplifting and drug possession as misdemeanors, was noted for having the largest drop in crime since it dropped by 11 percent. The imprisonment rate within the last five years also fell 15 percent.

Attorney General Eric Holder praised law enforcement officials for the declining trend in crime.

"This reduction in the violent crime rate continues a historic trend, and comes thanks to the tireless work of police and prosecutors throughout the nation," he said on Monday, reports USA Today.

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