Robbery, burglary and shoplifting have increased in 2021. This is according to the annual Crimestat report – the result of a collaboration between Dansk Erhverv and 30 retail organisations in Denmark.  

The report gathers a range of data on crimes committed in approximately 4,600 retail stores in Denmark. In 2021, there were 81 registered robberies (with threatened force), 207 registered burglaries (outside opening hours), and a whopping 10,729 registered shoplifting cases.

According to Dansk Erhverv, however, robberies and burglaries increased by only four each from 2020 to 2021, while the number of shoplifting cases increased by nearly 1,000.

“Shoplifting does not go the same way at all”
The majority of burglaries occured between the hours of 00:00 and 3:00. Stabbing weapons were used in 38 percent of robberies, while 42 percent involved no weapons at all.

In general, reports Dansk Erhverv, the number of robberies and burglaries has been relatively stable over the past few years, following an overall declining trend since 2010.

“It is positive that over a number of years we have experienced fewer robberies and fewer burglaries, but unfortunately the shoplifting does not go the same way at all,” said Henrik Sedenmark, the chief consultant at Dansk Erhverv.

“This is a development we are of course aware of, and we are in collaboration with relevant actors, including the police, looking more closely at how we can best reverse that development.”

Denmark’s “typical shoplifter”
Among its findings, the report has provided a profile of what Dansk Erhverv says is Denmark’s “typical shoplifter”.

According to the report, the typical shoplifter in 2021 was a 38-year-old man, and he would most commonly steal personal care products from a grocery store or supermarket in Amager.

The crime would most likely take place on a Thursday between the hours of 14:00 and 18:00, and the thief would be more often than not apprehended by a store detective.

“The description of the typical shoplifter is of course caricatured,” said Sedenmark. But, he added, it “clearly shows that we have a good picture of who steals what and when, which helps the retail trade to target their preventive efforts”.