Shoplifting in UK hits 20-year high as police-recorded offences surge by 29%

Shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales have hit a 20-year high, with a total of 469,788 incidents logged in the year to June 2024.

This is a 29% increase from the 365,173 recorded in the previous 12 months, marking the highest figure since records began in March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS stated that "shoplifting remains at record levels", while Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson highlighted the data as evidence of the "scale of the challenge we have inherited in our mission to make streets safer."

Earlier this year, shoplifting levels had already reached a 20-year high, and the latest figures show a further increase. The data also revealed a 20% rise in thefts from individuals, with 139,368 offences recorded in the 12 months to June, up from 116,312 a year earlier.

These statistics were released amid concerns from major retailers about the rising cost of theft and the Government's pledge to tackle low-level shoplifting and make assaulting a shop worker a specific criminal offence. This move follows a long-standing campaign by business owners and Conservative backbencher Matt Vickers, in response to increasing violence against retail workers.

Retailers are pinning their hopes on the measures announced in the King's Speech to Parliament earlier this year, following Labour's election victory, which aim to streamline police investigations and criminal prosecutions. Dame Sharon White, chairwoman of the John Lewis Partnership, which includes , last year branded shoplifting an "epidemic" and highlighted that not all incidents get police attention.

Iceland's executive chairman Richard Walker has disclosed that despite increased security spending, "serious incidents have never been higher". Association of Convenience Stores CEO James Lowman remarked earlier this year that the rise in shoplifting is "no surprise", with official figures only showing "just a fraction of the levels of theft that are happening in convenience stores and other retail outlets on a daily basis".

He pointed out that thieves operate "without fear of apprehension". Dame Diana stressed: "Too many town centres have been decimated by record levels of shoplifting, and communities have been left shaken by rising levels of knife crime, snatch theft and robbery. This cannot continue."

She added: "This Government will restore neighbourhood policing across the country, put thousands more dedicated officers out on our streets and scrap the £200 shoplifting threshold, bringing an end to the effective impunity for thieves who steal low value goods."

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal a 6% increase in recorded robberies, with 81,931 incidents reported in the year to June, up from 77,106 in the previous 12 months. However, this is still below pre-pandemic levels, which saw 90,199 offences in the year to March 2020.

Knife crime offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales during 2023/24 reached 50,973, marking a 4% rise from 49,187 in 2022/23, but still falling short of pre-pandemic levels of 51,982 offences in 2019/20. A "notable increase" was observed in robberies involving a knife or sharp instrument, with 21,759 incidents recorded in 2023/24, an 11% increase from 19,607 in the previous 12 months.

Despite this, the figure remains lower than the 22,727 recorded in 2019/20. Offences involving possession of an article with a blade or point dropped to 27,553, a 4% decrease from 28,582 in the previous 12 months.

The ONS suggests that this follows "substantial increases in recent years, which may have been influenced by targeted police action to tackle knife crime". However, these figures do not include offences recorded by Greater Police due to data recording issues.

The total number of crimes recorded by police in the year to June remained similar to the previous 12 months, at 6.7 million, according to the ONS. Separate figures from the Home Office show that the proportion of investigations into recorded crimes which were closed with no suspect identified increased to 40.2%, up from 39.5% in the previous year.

The percentage of suspects being taken to court stood at 6.7%. In rape cases, this was a mere 2.7%. These figures represent slight increases from the previous period (5.7% and 2.2% respectively), but they remain among the lowest levels ever recorded.