Theft Rates by Country 2026

Theft is the most common property crime globally, encompassing a wide range of offenses from pickpocketing to shoplifting. This analysis presents theft rates per 100,000 population across 95 countries, based on official data reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

What is Theft?

Theft refers to the unlawful taking of someone's property without their consent and without the use of force. This category excludes burglary (which involves unlawful entry) and motor vehicle theft (tracked separately). Common forms include:

• Pickpocketing – Stealing from a person's pockets or bag
• Shoplifting – Stealing merchandise from retail stores
• Bag snatching – Grabbing bags or purses in public
• Bicycle theft – Stealing bicycles from public areas
• Theft from vehicles – Stealing items left inside cars

[TABLE2|title=Theft Rates by Country Per 100k Population]

Important Note on Interpreting This Data

Theft statistics are heavily influenced by reporting behavior. Many minor thefts go unreported, especially in countries without insurance incentives. Tourist destinations often show higher rates due to pickpocketing targeting visitors. Urban areas consistently report more theft than rural regions due to population density and anonymity.

Key Findings

Uruguay leads with 3,417 thefts per 100,000 population in 2022, the highest rate globally. Sweden (2,849), Luxembourg (2,489), Denmark (2,484), and Grenada (2,321) follow closely.

Nordic countries show consistently high rates: Finland (2,241), Norway (1,820), reflecting comprehensive reporting systems rather than necessarily higher actual theft.

Major economies show varying rates: United States (1,458), France (2,011), Germany (1,241), United Kingdom (1,283), and Japan (297). The significant difference between Western and East Asian countries is notable.

Turkey recorded 279 in 2022, relatively low compared to European averages. Asian countries generally report lower figures: Japan (297), South Korea (352), Singapore (135), and Hong Kong (245).

Palestine showed a dramatic drop from 243 in 2020 to 20.11 in 2022, likely indicating changes in reporting or data collection rather than actual crime reduction.

Theft Rates by Country Per 100k Population

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#	Country	2020	2021	2022
1	Uruguay	3,493	3,317	3,417
2	Sweden	3,004	2,774	2,849
3	Luxembourg	1,468	1,703	2,489
4	Denmark	2,436	2,128	2,484
5	Grenada	2,349	2,238	2,321
6	Finland	2,438	2,240	2,241
7	Australia	1,883	1,896	2,026
8	France	1,736	1,787	2,011
9	Norway	1,608	1,463	1,820
10	Belgium	1,361	1,443	1,682
11	Switzerland	1,404	1,350	1,581
12	United States	-	1,363	1,458
13	Italy	1,022	1,176	1,417
14	Dominica	1,733	1,554	1,393
15	Canada	1,198	1,175	1,356
16	Netherlands	1,161	1,038	1,302
17	United Kingdom	1,110	1,103	1,283
18	Germany	1,114	998	1,241
19	Ireland	979	886	1,219
20	Saint Kitts and Nevis	779	986	1,158
21	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1,401	988	1,132
22	Antigua and Barbuda	934	866	1,077
23	Austria	950	816	1,072
24	Slovenia	1,162	858	1,019
25	Iceland	956	1,009	898
26	Colombia	550	713	887
27	Saint Lucia	835	581	816
28	Portugal	628	615	704
29	Argentina	506	589	686
30	Greece	570	557	683
31	Malta	659	668	679
32	Liechtenstein	343	471	646
33	Chile	498	416	604
34	Estonia	516	564	595
35	Costa Rica	441	444	530
36	Israel	474	493	529
37	Latvia	673	419	514
38	Hungary	517	437	502
39	Suriname	482	-	480
40	Paraguay	-	371	455
41	Bahamas	569	533	447
42	Bulgaria	390	355	414
43	Peru	253	322	407
44	Barbados	408	350	399
45	Spain	219	260	380
46	Guyana	351	366	358
47	South Korea	346	321	352
48	Lithuania	338	277	342
49	Panama	232	270	330
50	Czech Republic	433	256	326
51	Poland	258	286	315
52	Puerto Rico	254	257	313
53	Romania	320	335	309
54	Japan	295	274	297
55	Croatia	263	263	284
56	Türkiye	230	243	279
57	Serbia	220	254	259
58	Slovakia	257	220	248
59	Hong Kong	271	255	245
60	Mexico	198	239	244
61	Guatemala	171	194	225
62	Macau	178	172	150
63	El Salvador	98.64	160	146
64	Singapore	126	119	135
65	Ecuador	97.34	110	111
66	Pakistan	47.85	78.03	109
67	Bosnia and Herzegovina	111	97.41	96.32
68	Jordan	103	87.74	94.05
69	Morocco	27.34	-	90.79
70	Albania	110	117	86.93
71	Montenegro	52.64	55.81	55.32
72	United Arab Emirates	-	-	47.02
73	Cyprus	39.39	40.01	46.04
74	Oman	28.35	-	45.73
75	Thailand	30.62	35.35	42.94
76	Jamaica	20.98	-	28.25
77	Honduras	29.76	39.85	27.15
78	Kenya	16.68	22.1	27.13
79	Dominican Republic	-	24.06	25.15
80	Belize	17.14	19.48	24.09
81	Palestine	243	50.74	20.11
82	Myanmar	5.83	-	5.63
83	New Zealand	2,646	-	-
84	Brazil	645	-	-
85	Russia	464	-	-
86	Ukraine	270	-	-
87	Moldova	263	-	-
88	Kosovo	241	-	-
89	Kyrgyzstan	235	-	-
90	Mongolia	155	-	-
91	Trinidad and Tobago	109	-	-
92	Bhutan	40.78	-	-
93	Bolivia	27.22	-	-
94	Azerbaijan	18.49	-	-
95	Iraq	0.32	-	-

Data Source

• Source: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) – Corruption and Economic Crime Statistics
• Unit: Rate per 100,000 population
• Years covered: 2020, 2021, 2022
• Countries included: 95 countries with available data