Incidents of shop theft in England and Wales have reached new record levels, soaring 20% to 530,643 offences for the year ending March 2025, new data shows.
According to the Office for National Statistics’ latest crime report, published today, it marks the highest level of incidents since police began recording shoplifting statistics in March 2003.
Trade bodies have said the “alarming” ONS figures show acts of retail theft are continuing to “spiral out of control”, with stores being increasingly targeted by organised criminals.
“Sadly, such theft is not a victimless crime – it pushes up the cost for honest shoppers and damages the customer experience for everyone,” said British Retail Consortium director of business & regulation Tom Ironside.
“Retail theft costs retailers, and their customers, over £2.2bn a year and are a major trigger for violence and abuse against staff. While the causes are manifold, the rise in organised crime is a significant concern, with gangs hitting store after store, even within a single day.”
Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis said: “It is increasingly common for retail stores to be targeted by organised crime gangs stealing to order. This is in no way a victimless crime, with weapons and violence used to ensure these criminals are not stopped. Having to deal with repeated and persistent offences can cause issues beyond the theft itself, like anxiety, fear and physical harm to retail workers.”
The Association of Convenience Stores has said these ONS figures fall short of the real incident rate, having recorded over 6.2 million incidents of shop theft over the past year in local shops alone in its 2025 Crime Report.
ACS CEO James Lowman said: “While there is still a huge gap between the recorded figures and the reality of the number of thefts taking place, the one positive to take from these numbers is that more crimes are being reported, although this is still far too low. We encourage retailers to report every crime that is committed against their business.”
The sector has long campaigned for better protections for shopworkers against the rising tide of retail crime. The Crime and Policing Bill will be introduced later this year, which includes introducing a standalone offence for assaulting a shopworker.
Ironside added: “The bill will introduce a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker, which will increase sentencing and improve the visibility of violence against staff so that police can allocate appropriate resources to the challenge. It will also remove the £200 threshold for ‘low level’ theft, which will send a clear signal that all shoplifting is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
“This bill needs to go further and protect all retail staff working in customer-facing roles, including delivery drivers, just as the Workers Protection Act does in Scotland.”
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