Shoplifting offences rose by 20% to 516,971 in 2024, marking the highest figure since current police records began in 2003, new data shows.

According to the latest crime report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), police recorded a 1% increase in theft, with 1.8 million offences in the year to December 2024, which the ONS said was mainly because of the 20% increase in shoplifting.

Policing Minister Diana Johnson said: “There is work going on with policing, there is resourcing going on, I had a retail crime summit with big retailers at the end of last year to see what more we can do together to map what’s happening on our high streets.”

Last month, data from a British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Opinium survey found that 24% of the UK population witnessed shoplifting taking place while at a shop in the last 12 months. Some 23% of customers have also witnessed the physical or verbal abuse of shop staff, including racial or sexual abuse, physical assault or threats with weapons.

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Meanwhile, crime cost retailers £4.2bn last year, including £2.2bn from shoplifting and a further £1.8bn spent on crime prevention measures such as CCTV, more security personnel, anti-theft devices and body worn cameras.

In February, Tesco launched a 24-hour, 365 day-manned security hub with an aim to track down criminals targeting its stores. Staff employed at the facility will be in charge of analysing thousands of hours of CCTV footage.

The supermarket giant has since launched a trial of new giant anti-theft trolley scales, designed to weigh trolleys before checkout for Scan as you Shop customers. It is understood the scales will weigh trollies and baskets and identify if shoppers might have unscanned or overscanned items.

Asda has also ramped up its crime prevention measures this year, trialling Live Facial Recognition technology at five stores in Greater Manchester. It works by scanning facial images and comparing the results to a list of known individuals who have previously engaged in criminal activity on an Asda site.