Baltics Rank Third In Europe in Shoplifting
The Baltic States share third place for shoplifting in Europe, according to the annual Global Retail Theft Barometer released Monday by a consulting firm in the UK.
Losses from shoplifting and similar crimes in Europe are down by 3 billion euros from last year (although 31.1 percent of retailers reported an increase in shoplifting).
In Europe, Russian businesses suffered the biggest losses with 1.6 percent in damages. Second was Turkey and third place was shared by the Czech Republic and the Baltic States.
The study, which surveyed 1,103 retailers in 42 countries, measures “shrinkage,” which includes shoplifting, supplier fraud, internal errors and employee theft. The cost of retail crimes globally was down 5.6 percent. The countries suffering the biggest losses were India, Morocco and Brazil, while the lowest rates were in Austria, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The most popular five-finger-discount products were food, alcohol, cosmetics and electronics.
Money spent globally on security rose by 9.7 percent to 19 billion euros.