Shoplifting is showing signs of falling, according to a new survey, amid widespread reports of a rise in thefts.
A poll by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicates 26% of retail businesses experienced shopper theft last year, compared to a record high of 28% in 2022, the BBC reported.
A separate ONS report, based off police crime figures, found reports of shoplifting hit their highest level in 20 years last year, as police logged 430,000 cases of the thefts.
However, the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) found a two percentage point drop in thefts. The annual survey is regarded as a more reliable measure due to it surveying companies on their experiences of crime, while the police data is distorted by whether companies report incidents.
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The CVS reported more than three-quarters of supermarkets said they had experienced theft from a shopper, and 43% said their workers had been assaulted or threatened.
Additionally, the data revealed 45% of companies which had fallen victim to crime had not reported it to the police, indicating the actual number of crimes could be higher than the police figures show.
Around a third of companies which did report a crime said they were satisfied with its police response and 41% reported they were unsatisfied.
Of the respondents who weren’t satisfied, 63% claimed the police didn’t do anything to help or didn’t turn up to the incident.
In April, it was revealed assaulting a shopworker was to be made a separate criminal offence in England and Wales, as part of the government’s clampdown on the surge in shoplifting.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak said he was “sending a message” to criminals stealing and that stores “must be free to trade without the threat of crime or abuse”.
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