Data: UK shoplifting at 20-year high as losses top £2bn
Retail crime in England and Wales has reached its worst level since 2003, with shoplifting incidents up 20% year-on-year to more than 516,000 recorded cases in 2024.
According to new data from Get Licensed’s UK Retail Crime Report, retailers lost £2.2bn to theft in 2023/24, alongside £1.8bn spent on security and £200m in insurance costs, bringing the total annual bill to £4.2bn.
The research shows that over 20 million shoplifting incidents were logged by UK retailers last year, averaging 59 every hour.
Meanwhile, staff also faced over 2,000 daily incidents of violence or abuse, more than 70 of which involved weapons, and nearly half of retail workers said they now fear for their safety.
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
The data showed the North East has the highest shoplifting rate, with Nottinghamshire and Cleveland topping the list at almost double the national average.
Out of the retail categories, meat remains the most stolen product, with thefts rising 28% in 2023.
Despite huge investments in CCTV, body-worn cameras and other security, 61% of retailers rate police response as poor or very poor.
Earlier this year, supermarket giant Asda began trialling Live Facial Recognition technology at five stores in Greater Manchester, in its latest attempt to cut down on retail crime.
1 Comment. Leave new
Once there was shrinkage. Then came theft. Now there is shoplifting. Are these the same “unexplained losses?” Given the post office IT scandals, the justice systems IT scandal, the numerous other state systems scandals, the possibility that many retailers are using a melange of “legacy systems” with bolt-on attachments – could it be that “theft” is the missing explanation for losses that were formerly “unexplained?”