Shoplifting cases in England and Wales have fallen by 4% to just over 507,000 offences in the year to March 2026, according to new Office for National Statistics figures. The decline follows a surge under the previous Conservative government, when offences exceeded half a million for the first time in 2024.
Labour's policing minister, Sarah Jones, said the government is 'turning the tide' on the shoplifting epidemic, crediting the abolition of a Tory loophole that meant thefts under £200 were less likely to be prosecuted. The charge rate for shoplifting has risen to 23.2%, a 19% increase on the previous year.
Ms Jones told The Mirror: 'For too long, retail crime has been dismissed as low-level offending. It harms shopworkers, damages businesses and hollows out communities. These figures show our approach is working.' She vowed to continue tackling the issue and highlighted that assaulting a retail worker is now a specific criminal offence.
The government's Crime and Policing Act removed the low-value threshold, meaning all shop theft is now treated as general theft with a maximum prison sentence of seven years. The Mirror's 'Clamp Down on Shoplifting' campaign, backed by retailers including Co-op, Nisa and John Lewis, had called for the change.
Ms Jones also noted that an additional 3,800 police officers and PCSOs have been deployed since March 2025, strengthening neighbourhood policing. Lisa Maslen of the National Business Crime Centre said the Tackling Retail Crime Together Plan is 'driving a more consistent national response'. Despite the fall, shoplifting remains high, with over 500,000 offences recorded annually.
