Tip of a very big iceberg

The number of reported shoplifting offences in Sussex has increased by 12.1%.

The national figures have now risen to the highest level since current records began.

Nationally, a total of 516,971 shoplifting offences were recorded in 2024, a 20% increase on the 429,873 in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics [ONS].

This is the highest level of shoplifting since current police recording practices began in 2003 and the British Retail Consortium said retail crime is continuing to “spiral out of control” with shop theft costing retailers more than £2.2 billion a year.

Both the regional and national figures are likely to be just the [recorded] tip of the iceberg since shoplifting has now become so commonplace much of it is not reported to the police, especially from small retailers. Trade body figures imply that shops now report only a 2% of thefts [source: The Economist]. That would suggest the real rate of shoplifting is in excess of 25 million. More worryingly, whatever the true figure for the crime, just 0.17% lead to a prosecution.