Shoplifting offences reported by police in England and Wales have risen to a fresh 20-year high, according to official figures, as retailers continue to warn about violence against shop workers.
A total of 469,788 offences were logged by police forces in the year to June 2024, a 29% increase compared with the 365,173 recorded in the previous 12-month period.
This is the highest number of shoplifting offences seen, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), since records began in the year ending March 2003.
Retailers have called for help to prevent and handle rising retail crime and the impact it has on their employees and businesses.
The number of reported shoplifting offences had already risen to the highest levels in 20 years earlier this year, but the latest figures show they have continued to climb.
The offence of theft from a person, as recorded by police, also rose by 20% in the 12 months to June, rising to 139,368 compared with 116,312 a year earlier.
UK shop workers have been facing mounting incidents of violence and abuse as they battle to control shoplifting, according to retailers, including staff in some of the UK’s largest supermarkets.
The rise in retail crime has coincided with a period of price inflation, as the cost of everyday food items, from eggs to baby formula, has soared, leaving many consumers struggling to make ends meet.
However, the Co-op chain said that organised criminals were behind some of the recent increase in shoplifting and violence, rather than people who were stealing to survive.
Paul Gerrard, the public affairs director at the Co-op, told the House of Lords justice and home affairs committee that much of the rise in retail crime that the grocery chain had experienced had been due to gangs stealing large amounts to order.
In the king’s speech in July, the government moved to make attacking a shop worker a standalone criminal offence after pressure from the retail industry.
Retailers have said they hope the new crime and policing bill will make it easier for police to investigate and prosecute criminals.
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Many shop staff have warned that they feel unsafe at work and are planning to quit working in retail, according to a survey which found that one in three retail workers faced weekly abuse from shoppers.
The Retail Trust charity found that almost half of 1,200 workers they surveyed feared for their safety, while more than a third wanted to leave their jobs or the retail industry because of the rise in violence and abuse.
Chris Brook-Carter, the charity’s chief executive, said: “The incidents we hear about every day are both horrifying and heartbreaking.
“People tell us they have been spat on, had products smashed up in front of them and been filmed on their phones by abusive shoppers who then threaten to post the footage on social media.”