Shoplifting offences have increased to a new 20 year high reaching almost half a million incidents in the year to March, show the figures released by the Office for National Statistics today (24), suggesting the increasing role of organised gangs.
According to the data, a total of 443,995 shoplifting offences were logged in the year to March 2024, up 30 per cent on the previous year. The data follows the last release of figures from the Crime Survey for England in Wales in April 2024, which also reported record increases in theft on the previous year.
Reacting to the figures, Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said, “The gangs that are committing the majority of these crimes against retailers are typically organised, stealing to fund other criminal activity or drug and alcohol habits. They are often stealing to order, targeting higher value items to sell on to normal people who are struggling with the cost of living.
"These thieves are stealing on a regular basis without fear of apprehension, so it’s essential that every police force in the country takes theft seriously, not least because challenging thieves is one of the biggest triggers for abuse of shopworkers.“
Data from ACS’ Voice of Local Shops Survey which tracks levels of theft in the convenience sector have shown that theft has been increasing every quarter since mid-2021, reaching new record highs toward the end of 2023 and then breaking that record in the first half of 2024. The ACS Crime Report estimates that convenience retailers have recorded over 5.6million incidents of theft over the last year.
In the Kings Speech earlier this month, the new Labour government set out initial details of its Crime and Policing Bill, which promises to ‘introduce stronger measures to tackle low level shoplifting’, as well as introducing a separate offence for assaulting a shopworker.
More details on the figures from the Office for National Statistics are available here
