Police Scotland has this morning published the
latest Recorded Crime in Scotland statistics.
The figures show that between 2024-25 and 2025-26:
- Recorded crimes of shoplifting increased by 19% from 44,730
to 53,369 crimes,
- Common assaults of a retail worker increased by ten per cent
from 2,870 to 3,162
Commenting on the figures, Ewan
MacDonald-Russell, Deputy Head of the Scottish Retail
Consortium, said:
The spiralling increase of violence and shop theft is causing
misery for Scottish shopkeepers and customers. More than eight
times a day Scottish shopworkers are being assaulted, with at
least one of those attacks causing injury. Despite hundreds of
millions of pounds on investment in security from retailers this
unacceptable behaviour continues and must be tackled.
"Shop theft continues to be an epidemic with hundreds of
incidents a day. Thieving from stores isn't a victimless crime.
It's a key factor behind rising levels of abuse and threats
towards shop workers and we know from member feedback that
thieves are becoming bolder and more aggressive. We estimate the
cost of shop theft was £50 million in Scotland last year an
enormous burden. That cost is paid for through higher prices and
a worse shopping experience which undermines the health and
vitality of our high streets.
These figures highlight the scale of criminality affecting
Scotland's shops. However, it's worth noting some of the increase
is a consequence of the increased police response following the
creation of the Retail Crime Taskforce. Retailers are starting to
increase reporting in the hope Police Scotland will be able to
respond more effectively than in the past. So while this rise may
not mark an increase in crime rather just in the reporting of
crime, that doesn't obviate the need for more action.
However, even these elevated figures are unlikely to capture the
full picture of retail crime. Our most recent crime report
found there were 590,000 incidents of assault and 5,451,000
incidents of theft from stores across the UK last year. That
reaffirms the need for the Retail Crime Taskforce funding be
sustained and enhanced and for the courts to play their part if
we are to truly turn the tide on thieving and crime against
retailers.
ENDS-
Notes to Editors
- According to
the Recorded Crime in Scotland
figures published this morning: Shoplifting: Between 2024-25 and
2025-26, recorded crimes of Shoplifting increased by 19% from
44,730 to 53,369 crimes. There was an 86% increase over the 10
year period between 2016-17 and 2025-26, from 28,650 to 53,369
crimes. Shoplifting decreased considerably in 2020-21; this was
likely due to the Covid-19 pandemic related restrictions. Since
then, it has increased for five consecutive years and is now at
the highest level since 1971.
- Common assaults of a retail worker increased by ten per cent
from 2,870 to 3,162. This included 479 common assaults with
injury and 2,683 common assaults without injury.
- The SRC recently published a briefing on retail facts and
figures which includes our Scottish estimate on the cost of shop
theft: https://brc.org.uk/media/epgl0s51/src-key-facts-and-figures_printed-version-1.pdf
- The British Retail Consortium's Crime Report was
published in February and can be found here: https://brc.org.uk/media/bk1n3umn/crime-survey-2026.pdf
