Shoplifting on the rise in Germany – DW – 07/03/2025
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 the store, where all the goods are packed in a bag, and then someone else carries it out in a surreptitious moment."
The survey does not include exact breakdowns of the kinds of articles that get stolen, but Horst says that thieves often target anything small, expensive, and that can be easily re-sold, such as perfume and cosmetics. There had also been a rise in the theft of foods, especially relatively expensive things like meats and cheeses.
But Nicole Bögelein, criminologist at Cologne University, cast doubt on how useful the study actually is. She told DW that the researchers estimate that 98% of cases aren't even discovered.
"So it's just an assumption that the majority of these losses can be attributed to theft," she said.
Bögelein also cast doubt on the EHI's conclusion that there are more organized shoplifting gangs, as that could simply be because store detectives are more on the lookout for such groups.
Despite its shortcomings, the annual EHI survey is one of the few shoplifting studies there are, and it is focused mostly on the economic impact. Bögelein, by training a sociologist as well as a criminologist, has a different perspective, and says that almost all cases of shoplifting are so-called "poverty crimes" — defined as crimes that don't cost any money to carry out, and are committed by people because they have no money.
Bögelein's own investigations into shoplifting have found that the people who are caught are often poor — possibly, she says, also because store detectives are more likely to keep an eye on people who "look poor."
Official statistics suggest that the majority of thefts from shops are relatively petty. According to German federal police statistics, in 66.7% of discovered and prosecuted thefts, the value of the items stolen was under €50 and in 40.2% of cases even under €15. The punishment is usually a small fine, or, if the fine can't or won't be paid, a prison sentence.
Horst described Germany as a "paradise" for shoplifters, as the punishments are often relatively mild. Though theoretically thieves can be imprisoned for up to five years, he said that in practice first-time offenders are often not charged at all.
Bögelein said that deterrence might have an effect for some minor thefts, but was generally skeptical of the idea that more punishment discourages petty crime.
"People don't not steal because they're scared of punishment," she argued. "In criminology, we find that people stick to rules because they think those rules are correct and because they fear a bad conscience if they don't stick to them."
There has been a debate among German criminologists about to what extent "poverty crimes" should be decriminalized altogether, on the grounds that such crimes are usually victimless and therefore don't require criminal justice.
There have long been calls to downgrade one classic "poverty crime" — riding public transport without a ticket — to a misdemeanor, partly because punishing it has become a burden to public coffers and is clogging up the justice system. Between 8,000 and 9,000 people end up in prison in Germany every year for riding without a ticket.
But Horst argued that shoplifting shouldn't always be defined as a poverty crime: The EHI estimates that two-thirds of shoplifting cases were what he called "opportunistic perpetrators," and many of them are not necessarily poor.
Horst does think that inflation and higher prices for basic items may be playing a role in the rise of shoplifting, but he was reluctant to accept that poverty was the driving element of all theft.
"It could be a protest theft, because people are saying they're not prepared to accept the price rises for a particular product," he said, "I'm sure poverty is a part of it, but that it explains the rise on its own — I don't see that."
While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.
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Russia: Is Moscow losing Azerbaijan as an ally? – DW – 07/03/2025
Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have cooled following contentious arrests in both countries. Russia may be about to lose even more influence in the Caucasus. Last week, a police raid triggered a diplomatic crisis. Within a few days, the row between Russia and Azerbaijan had escalated, putting considerable strain on the already tense relationship between the two. It began with a controversial police raid in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on June 27. Several ethnic Azeri men were arrested as part of an investigation into crimes that date back years. The men are accused of carrying out assassinations and murders. Russian special forces clearly went in hard when making the arrests. Two of the men died, presumably as a result of the controversial raid. Baku reacted swiftly and strongly. Azerbaijan's foreign ministry condemned the "unacceptable act of violence" by the Russian security forces. All cultural events with ties to Russia were cancelled in protest. A presenter on primetime state television denounced Moscow's "imperial behavior" toward former Soviet states. On June 30, Azerbaijani authorities arrested two Russian journalists with Russia's state-funded news agency Sputnik Azerbaijan in Baku. According to media reports, the two were working for the Russian domestic security service, the FSB. The Kremlin was restrained in its response. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he regretted Baku's decision to cancel cultural events, stressing that the situation in Yekaterinburg "cannot and should not be a reason for such a reaction." The Russian foreign ministry pointed out that the dead and detained men, although ethnic Azeris, were holders of Russian passports. The following day, the Azerbaijani judicial authorities upped the ante by arresting more Russian citizens in Baku. They are accused of involvement in drug smuggling and organized crime. Photos from the courtroom show that some of the detainees appear to have been beaten. The men were identified on social media as programmers and tourists from Yekaterinburg. The spiral of reciprocal accusations continues to intensify. More Azeris have been arrested in Russia, in the cities of Yekaterinburg and Voronezh. Regional experts described the row to DW as yet another strain on the relationship between the two countries, after the Azerbaijani plane crash late last year. On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijani plane carrying 62 passengers and five crew was hit by a Russian surface-to-air missile. The tragedy occurred over the city of Grozny, where Russian air defenses were in action. The plane attempted to make an emergency landing, but crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau. 38 people were killed. The Azerbaijani political scientist and conflict researcher Arif Yunusov believes the harsh rhetoric in both countries' media since then is not a coincidence. 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Euro's climb vs. dollar signals trouble for EU exporters – DW – 07/03/2025
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Shoplifting on the rise in Germany – DW – 07/03/2025
A new survey of major German retailers has found a rise in theft, committed by organized gangs or by individuals who find it ever more difficult to make ends meet. But some criminologists doubt the figures. 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 the store, where all the goods are packed in a bag, and then someone else carries it out in a surreptitious moment." The survey does not include exact breakdowns of the kinds of articles that get stolen, but Horst says that thieves often target anything small, expensive, and that can be easily re-sold, such as perfume and cosmetics. There had also been a rise in the theft of foods, especially relatively expensive things like meats and cheeses. But Nicole Bögelein, criminologist at Cologne University, cast doubt on how useful the study actually is. She told DW that the researchers estimate that 98% of cases aren't even discovered. "So it's just an assumption that the majority of these losses can be attributed to theft," she said. Bögelein also cast doubt on the EHI's conclusion that there are more organized shoplifting gangs, as that could simply be because store detectives are more on the lookout for such groups. Despite its shortcomings, the annual EHI survey is one of the few shoplifting studies there are, and it is focused mostly on the economic impact. Bögelein, by training a sociologist as well as a criminologist, has a different perspective, and says that almost all cases of shoplifting are so-called "poverty crimes" — defined as crimes that don't cost any money to carry out, and are committed by people because they have no money. Bögelein's own investigations into shoplifting have found that the people who are caught are often poor — possibly, she says, also because store detectives are more likely to keep an eye on people who "look poor." Official statistics suggest that the majority of thefts from shops are relatively petty. According to German federal police statistics, in 66.7% of discovered and prosecuted thefts, the value of the items stolen was under €50 and in 40.2% of cases even under €15. The punishment is usually a small fine, or, if the fine can't or won't be paid, a prison sentence. Horst described Germany as a "paradise" for shoplifters, as the punishments are often relatively mild. Though theoretically thieves can be imprisoned for up to five years, he said that in practice first-time offenders are often not charged at all. Bögelein said that deterrence might have an effect for some minor thefts, but was generally skeptical of the idea that more punishment discourages petty crime. "People don't not steal because they're scared of punishment," she argued. "In criminology, we find that people stick to rules because they think those rules are correct and because they fear a bad conscience if they don't stick to them." There has been a debate among German criminologists about to what extent "poverty crimes" should be decriminalized altogether, on the grounds that such crimes are usually victimless and therefore don't require criminal justice. There have long been calls to downgrade one classic "poverty crime" — riding public transport without a ticket — to a misdemeanor, partly because punishing it has become a burden to public coffers and is clogging up the justice system. Between 8,000 and 9,000 people end up in prison in Germany every year for riding without a ticket. But Horst argued that shoplifting shouldn't always be defined as a poverty crime: The EHI estimates that two-thirds of shoplifting cases were what he called "opportunistic perpetrators," and many of them are not necessarily poor. Horst does think that inflation and higher prices for basic items may be playing a role in the rise of shoplifting, but he was reluctant to accept that poverty was the driving element of all theft. "It could be a protest theft, because people are saying they're not prepared to accept the price rises for a particular product," he said, "I'm sure poverty is a part of it, but that it explains the rise on its own — I don't see that." While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.
