Australia recorded its highest number of police‑recorded theft victims (excluding motor vehicles) in more than two decades last year, with incidents rising 6 per cent to 595,660 in 2024, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Samantha Hall, ABS head of crime and justice statistics, said: ‘There were 595,660 recorded victims of theft in 2024. These thefts, which includes things like shoplifting and pickpocketing, but not motor vehicle thefts, have been continually rising since a drop during 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were introduced.’
The ABS data show 2024 was the highest year since 2003, when 624,036 theft victims were recorded. Annual totals fell through much of the 2000s and 2010s, reaching a pandemic‑era low of 436,627 in 2020, before climbing in each subsequent year.
‘The largest rise over the past year was in Victoria, up 29 per cent, followed by Tasmania, which rose by 11 per cent.
‘Thefts at retail locations rose from 32 per cent of all thefts in 2010 to 45 per cent in 2024. Meanwhile, thefts from residential locations have dropped from 30 to 25 per cent of all thefts over the same period.’
According to the ABS, retail locations accounted for 45.1 per cent of thefts last year, up from 31.6 per cent in 2010, while the residential share fell to 25.2 per cent from 29.8 per cent over the same period.
Motor vehicle thefts also increased, with police recording 65,603 victims in 2024, up 8 per cent on the previous year, the ABS said.
The ABS notes that a “victim” can be a person, premises, an organisation or a motor vehicle, and that theft in these figures covers the unlawful taking of money, goods or services without force, threat, coercion or deception, with intent to permanently or temporarily deprive the owner.
