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The Guardian - UK

National

Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor

Shoplifting in England and Wales rises to new 20-year high

England Wales Police

Two Met police officers patrol Oxford Street, London, at Christmas time — The Labour government has vowed to tackle low-level shoplifting and make assaulting a shop worker a specific criminal offence. Photograph: Marcin Rogozinski/Alamy

The number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales has risen to a new 20-year high. A total of 443,995 offences were logged by forces in the year to March 2024, up 30% on the 342,428 recorded in the previous 12 months.

The figure is the highest since current records began in the year to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which described the latest increases as notable.

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