Anti-theft magnets on packaged cheeses and steaks and empty packaging in the windows: such measures are forced to take many stores in the USA. and the United Kingdom, where the number of thefts has skyrocketed – a phenomenon possibly due to the ever-higher cost of living.

For his part, the financial director of the retailer Associated British Foods, Ewan Tonge, tells The Sun that inflation and rising prices have given many people an excuse to steal what they want. The head of the British department store chain John Lewis even talks to the BBC about an “epidemic of theft”.

Thieves drop it on food

Frank Horst from the EHI Retail Institute, a research institute for retail companies in Germany, reports for Germany that “in 2022 the number of thefts increased enormously compared to the previous year”. For 2022 with galloping inflation there was a 30% increase in reported thefts.

Does it follow that not only prices but also shoplifting is directly linked to inflation? No, says Horst. Due to the measures during the pandemic there was a decrease in thefts in 2020 and 2021: many shops were not open at all, thefts were not even possible. For him, “what sounds dramatic at first is actually just a return to normalcy,” although it’s possible that over time persistent inflation will lead more people to steal products.

Horst, however, is cautious. It has been tracking shoplifting statistics for 20 years. “In the economic crisis, in the refugee crisis or even in periods of high unemployment, in all these periods of crisis, it is always said that these are factors that increase shoplifting. In the end, however, such evidence was never observed.”

Hard times do not automatically lead to more frequent thefts. According to Horst, in Germany there are the first signs that inflation does not necessarily affect the frequency of theft, but rather the behavior of thieves: “At the moment there is a change especially in the food trade: that products that are increasingly being stolen are they weren’t so chosen by thieves in the past.” Among them are products such as cheese, butter, meat and cured meats.

For Frank Horst, therefore, the bottom line is this: people don’t generally steal more because of inflation, but they steal differently. And their new target is staple foods.

British and American supermarkets are reacting

Of course, the situation in Great Britain and the USA. it cannot be exactly compared to Germany, as the conditions are different. In the USA, for example, there is a big problem with drugs – so organized gangs rob pharmacies to get the drugs they need. However, supermarkets and retail stores in the UK and the US. they take more security measures, increasing the cameras that video the area or carrying out checks. At the same time, all of this costs businesses a lot of money. And they could thus make the products even more expensive for customers.