The number of shoplifters in Germany increased significantly again last year. According to a study published on Tuesday by the Cologne retail research institute EHI, retail losses due to theft totaled around 3.7 billion euros last year. That was around 15 percent more than in the previous year.
Despite the significant increase, the EHI trade expert Frank Horst sees no reason for excessive concern in the figures. “What at first glance appears to be a dramatic development is, on closer inspection, a return to the normality of earlier years. Basically, the values of the pre-Corona period have now been reached again,” judged the industry expert. In the two Corona years 2020 and 2021, the number of shoplifters had fallen significantly, not least because of the shop closures caused by the pandemic.
According to the study, goods worth more than 2.4 billion euros were stolen from customers in 2022. The thefts by employees of the retail chains added up to a value of 920 million euros. In addition, there were thefts worth 370 million euros by service staff and suppliers. According to the EHI, a further 870 million euros in damage was caused by organizational deficiencies such as incorrect pricing.
According to the study, retail companies spent around 1.45 billion euros last year to protect their goods from thieves – for security and preventive measures such as article security, camera surveillance or detective work.
According to police crime statistics, the number of reported shoplifting cases rose last year by 34.3 percent to almost 345,000 cases. The number of reports was even 5.8 percent above the pre-Corona level. However, the number of unreported cases in this area is considerable. (dpa)