WASHINGTON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The rate of violent crime in the United States declined in 2009 for the third year in a row, the FBI reported on Monday.

The violent crime rate went down by 5.5 percent compared to 2008, the FBI said in its Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report.

All four categories of violent crime declined compared to 2008: robbery was down 8.1 percent; murder declined 7.2 percent; aggravated assault dropped 4.2 percent; and forcible rape slipped 3.1 percent.

The FBI also found that property crime declined 4.9 percent in 2009 for the seventh straight year. All overall categories of property crime decreased when compared to 2008: Motor vehicle theft was down 17.2 percent; larceny-theft dropped 4.2 percent; and burglaries declined 1.7 percent.

The FBI collected the crime data from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies across the country.

The 2009 crime statistics are preliminary, and the final report will be issued this fall.