The 15 worst areas of Leeds for shoplifting as UK battles with surge of 'out of control' thieves

The worst areas of Leeds for shoplifting have been named as the country grapples with a surge of “brazen” thieves.

Shoplifting crime made headlines throughout last year, with staff in Leeds telling the YEP that staff were being left “traumatised” by the “brazen” thieves.

The issues has continued into this year, with reports that retail crime is increasingly “out of control”.

The figures support this as well, with the latest numbers police data made available on Leeds Observatory showing that there was 10,577 reports made between December 2023 and November 2024, up from 9,801 during the previous year.

The figures show every robbery offence in Leeds that was not later cancelled.

We've broken this down by Middle Super Output Area (MSOA), neighbourhoods which usually include around 2,000-6,000 households.

Below are the 15 most shoplifted Leeds neighbhourhoods, listed in descending order. All images are for illustrative purposes and do not represent a specific incident or location.

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