UK Accounts for 39 Percent of Europe’s Phone Thefts
(MENAFN) Nearly 40% of mobile phone theft claims reported across Europe come from the UK, reveals data from US insurer SquareTrade, as highlighted by media on Friday. The capital, London, alone is responsible for almost half of the country’s mobile pickpocketing cases.
Analyzing claims from SquareTrade’s twelve European markets, the study found that the UK accounts for 39% of all phone theft incidents, despite British customers making up just 10% of the insurer’s user base. Since June 2021, mobile phone theft claims in the UK have surged by 425%, with 42% of these occurring in London.
This London figure represents 16% of all phone thefts reported across Europe, with Birmingham ranking second in theft numbers. The data also points to a seasonal pattern: phone thefts in the UK spike during summer and Christmas, coinciding with travel, festivals, and holiday shopping.
Official figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales corroborate these trends, showing a 50% rise in “theft from the person” in the year ending December 2024—totaling 483,000 offenses. Mobile phones are the most frequently stolen items in these cases.
Further research from Compare the Market earlier this year found that over 70,000 phones were stolen in London in 2024, averaging 1,349 thefts each week. Replacing these devices with the newest models could cost Londoners up to £70 million.
According to the Metropolitan Police, nearly 40% of all phone thefts in London occur in Westminster and the West End. The Met estimates that criminal gangs have turned mobile phone theft into a £50 million annual business.
The sharp increase in phone theft coincides with ongoing economic challenges and declining living standards in the UK. Earlier this year, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) observed that Britain is neither a high-wage nor a high-welfare country, leaving millions “trapped between low wages and inadequate support.”
Additionally, longstanding issues with illegal migration have been linked by officials to some of the rises in theft and gang-related activities, with undocumented individuals reportedly involved in criminal networks.
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