Shoplifting surges 20% to all-time record high

THE shoplifting epidemic blighting Britain has hit a record high, latest crime figures show.

- Giles Sheldrick

Police logged 530,643 offences in 2024/25 — up a staggering 20% from 444,022 a year ago.

That figure is the highest since current police recording practices began in 2002/03.

Shopkeepers are at the sharp end of a huge increase in the number of thieves amid a deepening ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Tory MP Esther McVey, right, wants to see a rise in prosecutions.

She said: “We have absolutely got to tackle shoplifting.

“We need a zero-toler-ance approach because we cannot have people simply wipe the shelves clean of goods.