Shoplifting in the UK has reached an unprecedented peak, with new statistics showing a record high of nearly 500,000 cases last year, fuelling concerns that retail crime is becoming increasingly rampant.
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), England and Wales saw 492,914 shoplifting incidents in the year to September, marking a 23% rise from the previous year. This escalation translates to approximately 1,350 offences each day.
Retailers are facing a dire situation as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reports that crimes, including physical assaults, racial and sexual abuse, and threats involving weapons, have tripled since 2020. Daily incidents now exceed 2,000, with weapon-related cases more than doubling to 70 per day.
The response from the police has been criticised, with 61% of survey respondents rating it as poor or very poor, although there was a slight improvement with 3% rating it as excellent for the first time in five years.
The financial toll on retailers has also soared, with losses from theft hitting a staggering £2.2 billion, up from £1.8 billion the previous year.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the BRC, expressed her alarm over the escalating threat, highlighting the severe impact on retail staff who face increasing aggression and violence.
Further compounding the issue, the ONS reported a 12% overall increase in headline crime, driven notably by a 19% rise in fraud incidents.
Despite these troubling figures, certain crimes like homicide and firearms offences have seen a decrease, although knife crime and robberies continue to rise.
This ongoing surge in retail crime comes amid warnings from the House of Lords and actions such as Operation Pegasus by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, aiming to curb the rising tide of retail theft.
