Shoplifting 'epidemic' concern for retailers with offending up 20% in one year

​As police report an almost 20% rise in the number of reported thefts from shops over the previous 12 months, one retailers’ representative has described offending as reaching “near epidemic level”.

In new figures published on Friday, the PSNI said that although there was a significant reduction in the overall crime rate, shoplifting offences had increased significantly.

With retailers’ attempts to prevent theft or apprehend offenders often being a trigger for abuse or violence, there have also been calls for greater legal protection for shop staff.

The PSNI said there were more than 7,000 fewer reported crimes overall during the past year – a 6.3% reduction.

However, Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts said shop owners were not experiencing the benefit of the wider reduction.

"People think that shoplifting is a victimless crime, but it’s not. It is near epidemic levels, with retailers’ [profit] margins, particularly small retailers, being eaten into, with also daily shoplifting, so it is a very serious problem.”

Quoted in its recently published Plan to Tackle Retail Crime, one Retail NI member said: "We work hard, but it is incredibly frustrating. Drugs are responsible for the explosion in theft and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt if action isn’t taken.”

Another said: “We need to know that those who are stealing from us will be prosecuted and not given a slap on the wrist.”

Neil Johnston of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) has also expressed concern.

“Recorded instances of shoplifting are up by a huge 19.5% in one year. It is clear that we need the PSNI to devote more attention to this problem,” the NIRC director said.

“It is not just an issue of scale; retailers talk about how the nature of these thefts has changed. Thieves have become bolder and more aggressive, and the impact on retail workers is severe, extending far beyond the workplace, affecting their physical and emotional well-being.

“We appreciate the efforts of the PSNI, and it is reassuring to see the figures for other crime categories going down, but we need a specific response given the scale of the increase [in shoplifting].”

Mr Johnston added: "With shoplifting often a trigger for abuse and violence, we need MLAs to ensure shop workers in Northern Ireland get the same legal protection from assault as their counterparts in England, Scotland and Wales.”

In a statement, the PSNI said there was a “significant reduction in crime across all districts in Northern Ireland,” and went on to say: “There were 8,979 recorded incidents of shoplifting in Northern Ireland between April 2023 and March 2024, compared to 7,511 recorded in the previous financial year.

“Despite this, theft offences generally remain lower than pre-pandemic, while criminal damage and burglary levels fell to the lowest levels recorded.

The full figures can be viewed at: www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our-publications-and-reports/official-statistics/police-recorded-crime-statistics