Shoplifting in England and Wales reached a record high in the year to March 2025, rising by around 20 % to 530,643 offences, the highest level since police began modern recording in 2003.
Retail industry experts warn the rise in retail crime is worsening, with real losses likely far greater than official statistics suggest.
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Shoplifting surge linked to cost‑of‑living pressures and organised gangs
ONS figures show shop theft has climbed sharply for the second consecutive year, up from 444,022 incidents in the year ending March 2024.
Experts attribute this rise partly to inflation and squeezed household budgets, prompting increases in both necessity-driven theft and organised retail crime.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) supports this view, stating that many incidents go unreported and official figures likely understate the true scale.
Financial losses and impact on prices
Industry data points to retail crime costing UK businesses approximately £2.2 billion in 2024, up from around £1.8 billion the previous year.
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By GlobalDataSome estimates suggest the cumulative cost, including violence, abuse and theft, exceeds £4 billion annually.
Analysts note that customer prices are indirectly affected, with retailers reportedly adding at least 6p to every shopping transaction to offset losses.
Industry calls for stronger enforcement and legislative reform
Tom Ironside, Director of Business & Regulation at the BRC, highlighted the scale of the problem following the Chancellor’s Spending Review announcement:
“With the huge rise in retail theft and the continued impact of violence and abuse on retail colleagues … shoplifting, which costs retailers and their customers over £4 billion a year,” he said, welcoming the additional £2 billion boost to policing and the planned deployment of 13,000 neighbourhood officers.
The Labour government is also considering amendments to remove the £200 threshold that currently classifies minor thefts as summary offences, which retailers argue undermines deterrence.
Broader context of retail crime trends
Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) show headline crime rose by 7 % in the year to March 2025, driven primarily by a 31 % increase in fraud, reaching around 4.2 million incidents.
Police-recorded theft offences overall stood at about 1.8 million, unchanged year-on-year, but shoplifting and theft from the person both climbed significantly – with theft from the person rising 15 % to 151,220 offences.
Roughly one in four people surveyed by the BRC say they have witnessed shoplifting or abuse of retail staff, underscoring the human impact of the surge in retail crime.
Retail staff report escalating verbal and physical incidents, further intensifying demands for better protection and enforcement.
Looking ahead
Shoplifting and retail crime in the UK have surged to their highest recorded levels in two decades. Rising living costs and organised theft groups are seen as drivers of the trend.
Retailers are calling for tougher enforcement and legal reform to tackle an issue that now costs the sector over £2 billion annually and may be pushing up consumer prices.
