The Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) has written to the Finance Secretary demanding emergency resource for the police, after shoplifting figures in Scotland rocketed 25%, according to Scottish Government’s recorded crime data for the year ending September 2024.
The police in Scotland recorded 300,134 crimes within this period, including 42,271 shoplifting incidents, up from 33,789 the previous year. This is an increase of 70% from the year ending September 2020 when 24,861 shoplifting crimes were recorded.
East Lothian reported the largest YOY increase in shop theft in percentage terms, up 65% YOY to 650 incidents. Stirling, the Orkney Islands and Moray all saw an increase of 54% YOY, with 441, 40 and 349 incidents recorded respectively. Edinburgh City also witnessed a huge rise, up 52% YOY, to 6,990 crimes, while Angus saw a 48% leap to 711 incidents.
The latest figures from the Chief Statistician only account for the crimes reported to Police Scotland, but SGF says that the true figure was much higher. This is based on the finding that 77% of members have told SGF they are either unlikely or very unlikely to report shoplifting incidents to the police due to the lack of confidence across retail that there will be a meaningful outcome.
SGF has called on the Scottish Government to take action before the situation gets even worse, by providing an uplift for Police Scotland and Scottish Justice in the Scottish Budget next week.
SGF Chief Exec, Dr Pete Cheema OBE, said: “We encourage our members to report every crime, but the truth is that many retailers simply don’t see any benefit. Shoplifting is a daily event in most stores and most know that the Police simply don’t have enough resources to cope.
“But even the Scottish Government’s own official figures speak for themselves, with shop theft set to double over a five-year period.
“It is communities, families and hard-working retailers and staff that are paying the price. The cost isn’t just financial, every week we hear about more cases of violence and abuse toward shop workers. But many criminals know that there won’t be any consequences whatsoever for their actions.
“That is why we need the Finance Secretary to send a clear message in the budget next week and provide emergency funding for the Police to get to grips with the devastating impact of retail crime. If the Scottish Government won’t act now, then when?”
The total number of abuse and assaults now logged under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 reached 13,857 cases up to August 2024, observed SGF, showing the extent of violence and threatening behaviour that Scottish retailers and staff face every day.
The SGF is in the process of preparing its annual Retail Crime Report for 2024/25 and encourages retailers to take part be completing this survey.
