Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what data it collects on retail crime trends broken down by region, crime type and outcomes, and whether it will publish any such data.
The Official Statistics on Recorded Crime in Scotland provide data on shoplifting and offences recorded under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021. The statistics include the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police, and the proportion cleared up (i.e. where there exists a sufficiency of evidence under Scots law to justify consideration of criminal proceedings against the suspected perpetrator). Information is not held centrally by the 8 Scottish Parliamentary regions, as these do not fully align with local authority boundaries (which form the basis of how data is received from Police Scotland).
Data on recorded shoplifting and the proportion of cases cleared up is available in the Recorded Crime in Scotland 2023-24 publication. The number of crimes recorded is available in Table 1 with the percentage of recorded crimes cleared up by the police in Table 3. Both of these tables include the latest 10 years of data.
The following tables show both the number of crimes and offences recorded and the proportion cleared up under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 Data is available from 24 August 2021 (the point from which the Act came into force).
Crimes of assault or threaten a retail worker recorded in 2021-22 to 2023-24
Crime type | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Serious assault of a retail worker | 8 | 15 | 13 |
Common assault of a retail worker | 786 | 1650 | 2555 |
Threaten or abuse retail worker | 1130 | 2106 | 2922 |
Percentage of crimes of assault or threaten a retail worker cleared up in 2021-22 to 2023-24
Crime type | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Serious assault of a retail worker | 87.5 | 86.7 | 84.6 |
Common assault of a retail worker | 58.7 | 64.5 | 61.5 |
Threaten or abuse retail worker | 58.4 | 61.3 | 63.1 |
Source: Police Recorded Crime in Scotland, Accredited Official Statistics
Note: 2021-22 only represents a partial year of data