Mobile phone theft claims in the UK have surged by more than 400 per cent in just five years, with new research showing Britain now accounts for nearly two in five related claims across Europe.
According to data compiled by the US insurer SquareTrade, cited by the local media on Friday, 39 per cent of all mobile phone theft claims across the company’s twelve European markets originated in the UK, despite British customers making up only 10 per cent of its client base.
London alone reportedly accounts for almost half of all pickpocketing incidents involving mobile phones in the country. The research found that phone theft claims in Britain have soared by 425 per cent since June 2021, with 42 per cent of those incidents occurring in the capital.
That figure means London alone accounts for 16 per cent of all phone thefts across Europe, with Birmingham recording the second-highest number of cases.
The data also showed that mobile phone thefts in the UK spike during the summer months and around Christmas, coinciding with increased travel, music festivals and seasonal shopping.
These findings align with official figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which reported a 50 per cent increase in “theft from the person” in the year ending December 2024, amounting to 483,000 incidents. Mobile phones remain the most commonly stolen item.
Separate research by Compare the Market, released earlier this year, revealed that more than 70,000 phones were stolen in London in 2024, averaging 1,349 thefts every week. If replaced with the latest models, the total cost to Londoners could reach £70 million.
The Metropolitan Police estimates that nearly 40 per cent of all mobile phone thefts in London occur in Westminster and the West End. Police figures suggest that mobile phone theft has become a £50 million a year industry for criminal gangs operating across the capital.
The sharp rise in phone theft comes amid continued economic pressures and falling living standards. Earlier this year, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) reported that Britain remains neither a high-wage nor high-welfare country, leaving millions “trapped between low wages and inadequate support.”
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