The scale of shoplifting in Englandpublished at 09:03 BST
09:03 BST
Ema Sabljak
England Data Unit
Image source, EPA
While the number of shoplifting offences recorded in England and Wales in 2025-26 has dropped slightly compared to the previous year, it is still significantly above pre-pandemic levels.
There were 502,011 offences recorded in 2025-26. That’s a little lower than the record-breaking total of 525,741 in 2024-25, but still up 50% on the 334,976 recorded a decade previously in 2015-16.
Policing minister Sarah Jones told the BBC we have “turned that corner” on shoplifting – but acknowledged that “we all know there is a lot further that we need to go, and a lot more we need to do”.
Tom Holder, spokesperson for the British Retail Consortium, said its surveys suggested these incidents were a fraction of what retailers were facing.
“As we see more action from the police, we see the reporting go back up,” he said.
How does this compare with other UK nations?
In Northern Ireland, shoplifting dropped 4% from 8,586 offences in 2024-25 to 8,243 in the most recent financial year. Meanwhile, it rose by 19% in Scotland during the same period to 53,369.