Nearly half of Swedish stores were victims of crime in the last quarter of 2023.
The number of stores where staff state that they were subjected to threatening behavior or crime during the fourth quarter was 45 percent. This is an increase from 41 percent in the third quarter, according to Svensk Handels Trygghetsbarometer.
– The government has expressed the ambition to significantly reduce volume crime through a number of different tools, for example by reviewing the law on entry bans. This is something we naturally welcome, but fine words are not enough, says Nina Jelver, Head of Security at the Swedish Trade Federation (Svensk Handel), in a press release.
There was also an increase in thefts at the end of last year, with 37 percent of retailers stating that they had been victims of theft or petty theft in the past week. In the third quarter, the figure was 33 percent. The Swedish Trade Federation estimates that 8.5 billion euros worth of goods are stolen every year.
Few reports lead to convictions, but despite this, the Swedish Trade Federation encourages traders to report all crimes to the police, as this can lead to these crimes being given higher priority by the police.
