Porch pirates cashing in on crime: £376.6 million worth of parcels stolen across the UK in the last year

• FOI data finds the value of porch piracy has nearly doubled in the last year, rising from £204 million in 2023, with the average price of a stolen parcel reaching £102

London, UK, 26 November 2024

Porch pirates look set to make this Black Friday and Christmas their most profitable yet, after the total value of parcels stolen across the UK rose to £376.6 million in the last year. The data made public by technology company Quadient (Euronext Paris: QDT) following a series of Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to UK police forces, also finds that the average value of stolen parcels shot up by 52% in the last 12 months, from £66.50 in 2023, to £102 this year. The FOI data shows people in blocks of flats are 24% more likely to be victims of parcel theft than those living in a house, suggesting thieves are capitalising on opportunities to steal multiple parcels in one go from communal areas.

Supporting consumer research shows 13% of UK households – at least 3.69 million homes – had at least one parcel stolen in the last year. This represents a 568,000 year-on-year increase in households suffering from parcel theft. But with the consumer research also showing only one in 333 thefts are reported to the police, it’s clear the police FOI data merely shows the tip of the UK’s parcel theft iceberg.

“No home is immune to the plague of parcel theft, and as higher value items are being stolen, the UK public needs to be especially vigilant over the holidays,” says Katia Bourgeais-Crémel, Director of Lockers Automation Europe at Quadient. “Flats are now prime targets for porch pirates as they use minimum effort for maximum profit, swiping multiple items at once. This being said, lower resident footfall around houses means they are attractive to opportunistic thieves. More needs to be done to cut off porch piracy’s air supply than ever.”

The data reveals Black Friday and Christmas remain the busiest times of the year for porch piracy, with November and December experiencing the most reports of parcel theft across the UK, a trend consistent with the previous two years. Young professionals aged 22 – 34 are also the most likely demographic to report parcel theft, with 9am – 5pm being the most common time parcels are stolen.

The FOI also uncovered some huge variations in reports of parcel theft across different regions:

• The average value of a stolen parcel varied greatly across the UK, from as high as £202.20 in Northumbria, to £4.24 in Derbyshire.
• Bedfordshire reported the highest number of thefts (701), while interestingly, the City of London Police received no reports of parcel theft from its 8,600 residents.
• Quadient consumer research found people living in Greater London are the most likely to be victims of porch piracy, as almost one in five (19%) of Londoners have had a parcel stolen in the last 12 months.
• The areas least likely to have a parcel stolen were Norwich (just 3% of residents said they had been a victim), Newcastle (5%) and Brighton (5%).

“The UK’s parcel theft problem is everywhere, and the data shows porch pirates are stopping at nothing to make a profit, targeting everywhere from prisons to nurseries,” adds Katia Bourgeais-Crémel at Quadient. “With the economy for parcel theft booming, the cost of lost items is being passed on to the consumer.

Retailers and carriers must continue working together to reduce the opportunities for parcel theft, from communicating more clearly with customers, to offering services like parcel lockers for convenient and safe pick-ups and drop offs. With every police force reporting most incidents take place during the daytime, parcel lockers can help to reduce theft during peak times, allowing more people to pick up parcels after work, or before taking their kids to school. By introducing lockers, businesses and customers can reverse the porch piracy pandemic and free up police time, allowing local police forces to redirect resources and strengthen bonds between communities.”

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Data in this press release is based on Freedom of Information requests of the UK’s 45 territorial police forces. This data is based on the responses from 21 forces, representing a population of 23,920,200 people.

To calculate UK-wide figures, Quadient calculated the total number of thefts per person across this population, then multiplied by the UK population (67,330,000).

10 forces shared data on the value of stolen parcels – to calculate a cost-per-parcel, Quadient divided the total number of thefts across these forces with the total reported value, for an average of £102.01.

Data for the total parcel theft cost was obtained from a survey conducted in September 2024 by market research firm Opinium that questioned 2,000 UK consumers.

To calculate UK-wide theft figures, Quadient multiplied the total number of households that had parcels stolen (3,692,000) by the average price of a parcel (£102.01) to get the figure £376.6 million.

Reported thefts year-on-year:

Time period	Reported thefts (responding forces)	Estimated UK-wide figure	Ratio of Parcel Thefts Reported to Police
01/08/2023 – 31/07/2024	3,876	10,910	1 in 333.3
01/08/2022 – 31/07/2023	5,692	16,421	1 in 200
01/08/2021 – 31/07/2022	3,540	10,485	N/A
01/08/2020 – 31/07/2021	2,373	7,028	N/A
01/08/2019 – 31/08/2020	1,059	3,137	N/A

 

Reported thefts for 2023-24:

Time period	Reported thefts (responding forces) *Not all forces were able to share monthly breakdowns	Estimated UK-wide figure
July 2024	279	785
June 2024	266	749
May 2024	245	690
April 2024	242	681
March 2024	245	690
February 2024	236	664
January 2024	331	932
December 2023	492	1,385
November 2023	388	1,092
October 2023	299	842
September 2023	258	726
August 2023	289	813

 

About Quadient®

Quadient is a global automation platform powering secure and sustainable business connections through digital and physical channels. Quadient supports businesses of all sizes in their digital transformation and growth journey, unlocking operational efficiency and creating meaningful customer experiences. Listed in compartment B of Euronext Paris (QDT) and part of the CAC® Mid & Small and EnterNext® Tech 40 indices, Quadient shares are eligible for PEA-PME investing. For more information about Quadient, www.quadient.com

Quadient UK press contact: 

Dominic Walsh, Spark Communications +44 (0)20 7436 0420 or quadient@sparkcomms.co.uk