After more than six months of COVID-19 restrictions from April to September in which most Canberrans were working from home, the graduated return to work by many office staff in October to December produced 353 vehicle thefts across the territory.

This was the highest quarterly figure in the territory since the same period in 2017, when 387 vehicles were stolen.

But as expected, overall reported crime across the ACT took a huge dive during a COVID-affected 2020, down 14.3 per cent.

Belconnen and the Inner North were the territory's worst-hit areas for car theft over the final three months of 2020 but predictably, the Belconnen town centre, Civic and Braddon districts were where thieves were most active.

However, the sharp decrease in vehicle theft during the mid-part of the year - along with all other types of offences - meant that overall, 2020 had the lowest annual number of stolen cars across the ACT in four years.

Tuggeranong was worst hit by car thieves in 2020 with an average of 20 stolen vehicles per month, although Belconnen was not far behind.

Burglary numbers also returned to "normal" levels in Canberra during the fourth quarter of 2020 after a six-month decline, also likely attributable to COVID-wrought behaviour changes.

Police were unable to provide comment on their data.

There were 505 reported burglaries across Canberra in the final quarter of last year, up from 439 in July-September, and 429 in the preceding quarter.

However, overall burglary numbers across the territory took a sharp fall in 2020, down 27 per cent on the previous calendar year. This came after a 17 per cent rise from 2018 to 2019.

Burglary and vehicle theft are closely aligned crimes in the ACT.

Most modern cars cannot be stolen without access to the electronic key fobs so when a break-in and burglary occurs, any easy access to car keys and a vehicle at the same property usually results a car theft, too.

Carjackings, such as occurred in Narrabundah two weeks ago when a Marley Spoon delivery driver had his van stolen at knifepoint, are much rarer.

Far more common are those which occurred in November and December, when thieves used a stolen Citroen to scout the suburbs for high-end European sports car targets, breaking into business and residences in O'Connor, Harrison and Mitchell and stealing a BMW, an Audi and a Skoda.

In December, brazen thieves entered gymnasium changing rooms while people were working out, rifled through their gear, stole keys and then cars from the parking areas outside.