Shoplifting has hit a record high with 5.6m incidents recorded in 2023 compared to 1.1m incidents in 2022, new figures show.
The new data, released in The Association of Convenience Stores’ 2024 Crime Report, highlights the scale of retail crime impacting UK retailers.
The report also revealed that retailers recorded over 600 incidents of theft an hour over the last year.
It revealed the top motivations for repeat offending were drug or alcohol addiction, organised crime and opportunism.
Violent incidents committed against retailers and employees also increased with over 76,000 incidents of violence in shops reported last year, compared to 41,000 in 2022.
Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said: “Retailers are facing an onslaught of retail crime committed against their businesses daily, with some losing tens of thousands of pounds per year to theft alone.
“This extended retail crimewave cannot be allowed to continue. Thieves are known to the community and to the police but they simply do not care, and continue on regardless, filling baskets and trolleys and walking out without fear of reproach.
“There have been positive steps forward made in recent months with the publication of the Retail Crime Action Plan and the launching of Operation Pegasus to try and better identify prolific offenders and bring them to justice, but the figures in our report demonstrate that more needs to be done urgently. Nobody should have to come to work and face what retailers and their colleagues have faced over the last year.”
A series of measures were introduced last year to try and stem the influx of retail crime incidents. A new Organised Retail Crime (ORC) capability was formed with funding from Project Pegasus – a partnership between 13 of the UK’s leading retailers.
