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33% of Britons have witnessed shoplifting in the last 12 months, but young people don’t see it as a serious crime
Key takeaways
- 74% of Britons see shoplifting is a very or fairly serious crime, though this falls to just 35% among 18-24 year olds
- A third of the public say they have witnessed shoplifting in the last 12 months
- 66% of Britons believe the police are handling shoplifting badly, though this is down eight points since October 2024
- Britons are split 47% to 45% on whether it can be acceptable for a starving person to shoplift food
For many retailers, shoplifting has become an everyday occurrence, with the number of offences recorded hitting new heights last year. Although the government has pledged to take a tougher line on such thefts, shopkeepers have regularly complained about feeling like no action is being taken.
And it’s not just shopkeepers who are noticing the rising crime: a third of Britons (33%) say they have witnessed someone shoplifting at least once in the last 12 months.
While some claim that shoplifting has effectively been decriminalised, the results show that three quarters of Britons (74%) see shoplifting as an at least fairly serious crime, including one in six (18%) who believe it’s a very serious offence.
Younger Britons are far less likely to see shoplifting as a major crime, with just 35% of 18-24 year olds seeing it a very or fairly serious crime, compared to 65% of 25-49 year olds, 88% of 50-64 year olds and 92% of over 65s. Instead, 18-24 year olds are most likely to categorise it as a not very serious crime, with 54% doing so.
Given its prevalence and perceived seriousness, it’s perhaps unsurprising that two thirds of Britons (66%) believe the police are doing a bad job at dealing with shoplifting, though this is down eight points since October 2024. This compares to a mere 12% of Britons thinking the police are doing well at dealing with the crime, an increase of four points.
Do Britons think shoplifting can ever be acceptable?
Despite the British public viewing shoplifting as a very or fairly serious crime, substantial minorities of Britons do believe it can be acceptable in certain circumstances.
This feeling is greatest with the classic philosophical thought experiment of a starving man stealing food to survive, with nearly half of Britons (47%) believing shoplifting in this situation can be acceptable, even if a roughly matching 45% say it’s still unacceptable. Some clearly see this as distinct from merely not being able to afford food, a scenario in which a lower rate of 36% believe shoplifting can be acceptable.
Parents shoplifting baby products they cannot afford is seen as acceptable by 39% of Britons, though 52% see this as unacceptable.
Three in ten Britons (29%) believe it can be acceptable to shoplift toiletries if you cannot afford them, while one in six (17%) say the same of clothes. Shoplifting luxury goods, however, is near universally seen as never acceptable, just 3% of Britons feeling it can even sometimes be okay.
Beyond what you are shoplifting and why, Britons also see who you are stealing from as affecting its acceptability, with one in six (17%) seeing it as potentially acceptable to shoplift from a large company, compared to a mere 2% who believe it’s okay to steal from a small one.
As with attitudes to the severity of shoplifting, there is a clear age divide when it comes to whether it can ever be acceptable. Of the eight scenarios polled, a majority of 18-24 year olds say shoplifting could be acceptable in five of them, while for no scenario do a majority among the over 50 age groups say the same.
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Photo: Getty