Germany has never had more shoplifters than in 2024. An annual survey of 98 retailers estimates a 3% increase on the year before — amounting to some €4.95 billion ($5.84 billion) in losses.

The latest study by Germany's Retail Institute (EHI) on "inventory differences" shows that the vast majority of those losses (€4.2 billion) was down to theft from customers, employees, or delivery workers, the EHI said, which would mean losses of some €570 million to the public purse through lost sales tax.

The EHI also said that retailers had to resort to balancing out their losses, and the costs of extra security, by increasing prices. Study author Frank Horst calculated that some 1.5% of prices in stores could now be attributed to covering theft and security.

The EHI said there had also been a 5% increase in organized shoplifting, which accounted for a third of the total shoplifting losses. Horst said this could be individual thieves working their way through a "shopping list," or else, the thefts could be carried out by coordinated groups.

"One of them drives a vehicle, one of them distracts the staff, or shields the one putting the goods away so they can't be seen," Horst told DW. "Sometimes so-called depots are set up in........

© Deutsche Welle