Calls for government grants to boost security as shoplifting hits 20-year high
The Federation of Independent Retailers has repeated calls for government grants to boost security measures for smaller stores, following the news that incidents of shoplifting have topped more than half a million for the first time ever.
According to the latest statistics, police in England and Wales recorded a total of 516,971 cases of shoplifting in 2024, up 20 per cent from 429,873 in 2023.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed this is the highest since current recording practices began more than 20 years ago.
In a recent survey of its members, the Federation found that 72 per cent of those who responded had experienced shoplifting, break-ins and damage to property, while they and their staff had been physically or verbally threatened.
National President Mo Razzaq said: “The numbers are shocking but come as no surprise to independent retailers, as we face these incidents on a daily basis.
“In realty, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as many incidents go unreported due to lack of confidence in the police and the justice system to take appropriate action to tackle this growing problem.”
Last year, the Federation launched its Safe, Secure, Supported campaign, aimed at police and crime commissioners, as well as politicians, to back its call for grants to help smaller businesses to install equipment such as high quality CCTV systems.
Mr Razzaq added: “We hope that the latest disturbing statistics on shoplifting encourage the Government to provide the financial help that is urgently needed to tackle the surge in retail crime.”
The latest ONS statistics show both shoplifting and theft from the person offences are at their highest level since current police recording practices began in the year ending March 2003.
There was a 22 per cent increase in theft from the person (to 152,416 offences) compared with the previous 12 months, with sharp rises in both this and shoplifting offences since the pandemic.
Crime against individuals and households has generally decreased over the past ten years with some notable exceptions, such as sexual assault.
However, there have been increases across some crime types in the latest reporting period. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated 9.6 million incidents of headline crime (which includes theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse, and violence with or without injury) in the survey year ending December 2024. This was 14 per cent higher than last year’s survey (8.4 million incidents in the year ending December 2023) because of increases in fraud and theft. Within CSEW headline crime:
- Fraud increased by 33 per cent (to around 4.1 million incidents);
- Theft increased by 13 per cent (to around 2.9 million incidents), mainly because of a 50 per cent increase (to around 483,000 incidents) in theft from the person; and
- Computer misuse decreased by 23 per cent (to around 757,000 incidents) because of a 29 per cent fall in incidents of unauthorised access to personal information
Latest figures show the number of homicides decreased by five per cent (to 535 offences), compared with the year ending December 2023 (563 offences) – the lowest in a decade.
Offences involving knives or sharp instruments increased by two per cent (to 54,587 offences), while offences involving firearms fell by 20 per cent (to 5,252 offences). The ONS said this was mainly because of a 32 per cent fall (to 1,882 offences) in imitation firearms, such as replica weapons and BB guns.
There was no change in robbery (81,135 offences), compared with the year ending December 2023 (80,822 offences). A 54 per cent increase (to 14,707 offences) in robbery of business property was offset by a seven per cent decrease (to 66,428 offences) in robbery of personal property.