Record number of shoplifting crimes in Greater Manchester
A record number of shoplifting crimes were reported in Greater Manchester last year, new figures show.
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers warned shoplifting is not a "victimless crime" and stores are being increasingly targeted by "organised crime gangs".
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show 22,035 shoplifting crimes were recorded by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in the year to March – up 20 per cent on 18,399 the year before.
It was the highest number since comparable records began in 2002-03.
Across England and Wales, 530,643 shoplifting offences were logged in 2024-25. It was up 20 per cent from a year earlier, and also the highest since current records began.
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, said the figures reveal the scale of the "epidemic of retail crime", adding incidents have more than doubled since the pandemic.
He said: "It is increasingly common for retail stores to be targeted by organised crime gangs stealing to order. This is in no way a victimless crime, with weapons and violence used to ensure these criminals are not stopped.
"Having to deal with repeated and persistent offences can cause issues beyond the theft itself, like anxiety, fear and physical harm to retail workers."
The union welcomes the Government's Crime and Policing Bill, which includes measure to tackle the rise in shoplifting by removing the £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters and funding more uniformed officer patrols in shopping areas.
"It is our hope that these new measures will help give retail workers the respect they deserve," he said.
The ONS figures also show 85,240 total theft offences were recorded by GMP in 2024-25, an 11 per cent fall from 95,327 a year before.
Overall, the force logged 319,131 crimes throughout the year – down seven per cent from 342,159 in 2023-34.
In total, police forces recorded 6.6m crimes in England and Wales in 2024-25, down slightly from 6.7m in 2023-24.
However, this is up from 6.1m in 2019-20 and from 4.2m a decade earlier in 2014-15.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "This summer our new neighbourhood policing guarantee means over 500 town centres are getting extra neighbourhood patrols and action on town centre crime, and we are delivering the first 3,000 increase in neighbourhood officers and PCSOs in communities by next spring."