Shoplifting surges 20% to two-decade high in England and Wales

Shoplifting in England and Wales Hits 20-Year High with 20% Surge

Rising Shoplifting Trends in England and Wales

LONDON (Reuters) -Shoplifting offences in England and Wales increased by 20% in the year ending March 2025 to hit a two-decade high, official data showed on Thursday.

Impact on Retail Industry

Retailers say the true picture is much worse as millions of shoplifting incidents are not reported to the police because owners do not think the force will either respond or prosecute offenders.

Government Response to Retail Crime

Theft costs the industry billions of pounds and inflates prices for consumers as the expense of lost goods and increasing security is passed on.

Statistics and Reports

The Office for National Statistics said it had recorded 530,643 offences, the highest figure since current police recording practices began in 2003. In the previous year to March 2024 there were 444,022 offences, an annual rise of 30%.

The ONS did not give reasons for the rise, but said it continued a trend that set in at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Britain's Labour government has pledged to address the rise in retail crime through stronger measures to tackle shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.

Industry body the British Retail Consortium's annual crime survey, published in January, found more than 20 million incidents of theft were committed in the year to August 2024, equating to 55,000 a day, costing retailers 2.2 billion pounds ($3 billion).

The issue of shop theft and violence against store workers has been raised by many of Britain's biggest retailers, including industry leader Tesco and the Co-op, echoing similar reports in the United States and elsewhere.

In April, the Co-op said losses from shoplifting in its food retail business rose to 80 million pounds in 2024, or more than half of its adjusted operating profit.

($1 = 0.7382 pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Barbara Lewis)