Shoplifting is an underreported crime that has reached “unacceptable” levels, with devastating impacts on the retail sector and wider economy, a new Lords inquiry has said.

During the inquiry, the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee heard that there are almost 17 million incidents of shop theft in the UK annually, with few cases leading to an arrest and costing the retail sector almost £2 billion last year.

In a letter to the minister for policing, crime and fire prevention, dame Diana Johnson, the Committee said the nature of the offence has evolved from individualised offending to “relentless”, large-scale, organised operations which are accompanied by unprecedented levels of violence.

The Committee considers the term “shoplifting” to be outdated and recommended that is should be phased out as it trivialises the severity of the crime, describing it instead as “shop theft”.

It said that shop theft is now seen as a lucrative profit-making opportunity which is being exploited by organised criminal networks because there is a widespread perception that it is not treated seriously by the police.

In its recommendations, the Committee said that there is a need for quicker reporting systems and better data collection and intelligence sharing between police forces across the UK.

The Committee recommended an increase in public awareness campaigns to target the stolen goods market, adding that it supports the introduction of regulations and best practice guidance for the use of facial recognition technology by private companies.

The Committee said it welcomes the work of Pegasus, a national scheme to tackle organised crime in the retail sector and recommends that existing schemes such as Business Crime Reduction Partnerships, which links police and local businesses, should all be part of a National Standards Accreditation Scheme.

Lord Foster of Bath, chair of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee, said that the scale of shop theft is unacceptable and there is no silver bullet to fix the problem.

“In March 2024, 443,9953 incidents of shop theft were recorded by police – a 30 per cent increase on the previous year and the highest-ever level since comparable records began over twenty years ago,” he added. “But the figures are ‘a drop in the ocean’ when compared with likely real figures estimated at 17 million with devastating consequences for businesses and families.”

During the recent Autumn Budget announcement, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the government plans to put forward more funding to address the growing problem of shoplifting.

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