A record number of shoplifting crimes were reported in Hampshire last year, new figures show.

The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers warned shoplifting is not a "victimless crime", adding retail stores are being increasingly targeted by "organised crime gangs".

Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics show 16,014 shoplifting crimes were recorded by Hampshire Constabulary in the year to March – up 12% on 14,303 the year before.

It was also the highest number recorded since comparable records began in 2002-03.

Across England and Wales, 530,643 shoplifting offences were logged in 2024-25. It was up 20% from a year earlier, and also the highest since current police recording practices began.

Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, said the figures reveal the scale of the "epidemic of retail crime", adding incidents have more than doubled since the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: "It is increasingly common for retail stores to be targeted by organised crime gangs stealing to order. This is in no way a victimless crime, with weapons and violence used to ensure these criminals are not stopped.

"Having to deal with repeated and persistent offences can cause issues beyond the theft itself, like anxiety, fear and physical harm to retail workers."

He added the union welcomes the Government's Crime and Policing Bill, which includes measure to tackle the rise in shoplifting by removing the £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters and funding more uniformed officer patrols in shopping areas.

"It is our hope that these new measures will help give retail workers the respect they deserve," he said.

The ONS figures also show 43,981 total theft offences were recorded by Hampshire Constabulary in 2024-25, a 4% fall from 45,737 a year prior.

Overall, the force logged 155,383 crimes throughout the recent year – down 3% from 159,987 in 2023-34.

In total, police forces recorded 6.6 million crimes in England and Wales in 2024-25, down slightly from 6.7 million in 2023-24.

However, this is up from 6.1 million in the pre-pandemic year of 2019-20, and from 4.2 million a decade earlier in 2014-15.

The ONS said this likely reflect "changes in police activity and recording practices" as well as changes in trends in crimes reported to forces, meaning the figures do "not tend to be a good indicator of general trends in crime".

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "This summer our new neighbourhood policing guarantee means over 500 town centres are getting extra neighbourhood patrols and action on town centre crime, and we are delivering the first 3,000 increase in neighbourhood officers and PCSOs in communities by next spring."