The security experts at Get Licensed have put the honesty of Brits to the test and surveyed UK residents to reveal shoplifting habits and crime reporting trends.
You can find the full survey findings here: https://www.get-licensed.co.
Get Licensed asked UK respondents, “Have you ever accidentally/intentionally shoplifted?’
The results can be seen below:
Have you ever accidentally/intentionally shoplifted? Select all that apply. | Percentage of Respondents |
Yes, intentionally | 10% |
Yes, accidentally | 16% |
No | 69% |
Not sure | 5% |
Prefer not to say | 2% |
Accidental shoplifting may also be more common than you think. One in six (16%) people admit to having walked out of a store with unpaid items without realising. Women are more likely than men to make this honest mistake (21% vs. 12%), while men are more likely to shoplift intentionally (11% vs 9%).
Get Licensed also found that many of the respondents remembered their thieving traits from childhood, and over one in 20 (5%) of Brits who have intentionally stolen did so when they were a child.
Shoplifting habits vary by location, as Leeds tops the list for accidental shoplifting at almost a quarter (23%), while Bristol and Cardiff share the title of the UK’s biggest intentional shoplifters. Nearly one in five (19%) of residents admit to deliberately taking an item from a store without paying.
Manchester shoppers are the most secretive about their habits, with more than one in ten (11%) preferring not to say whether they’ve shoplifted.
These shoplifting insights form part of a bigger research piece that also reveals crime reporting trends across the UK:
People aged 25-34 are the least likely to report a violent crime if they witnessed one.
Of those who have never witnessed a crime, one in eight (12%) say they would ignore it if they did.
Wallet finders in London are the most likely in the UK to take a wallet’s cash before handing it in (9%).
If a wallet were on the floor, men are more likely than women to steal its monetary contents, irrespective of whether there was £1 or £1,000 inside.
