Two-fifths of mobile phone thefts in Europe happen in UK, shows insurance data

The Met said about 80,000 phones were stolen in London last year, in what it described as an ‘organised criminal enterprise’. Photograph: Ammentorp Photography/Alamy

Nearly two in every five phones stolen in Europe are taken in the UK, according to data collated an insurance firm.

An analysis of claims made to the American insurance company SquareTrade showed that 39% of all phone thefts across the company’s 12 European markets were in Britain. This was despite the UK only making up 10% of the company’s European customers.