Hirtshals retailers seek help as shoplifting reports rise 62 percent

Shoplifting reports in Denmark rose 62 percent from 2019 to 2025, prompting retailers in the town of Hirtshals to hire an expert to help prevent theft and handle shoplifters, DR reports.

Per Martensen, head of Hirtshals Handel og Erhverv, has called all local businesses to a meeting after receiving repeated reports of more frequent and serious thefts.

“The number of shoplifting incidents is simply soaring, and that is causing financial losses and insecurity for many of the businesses involved,” he said.

At the clothing store Havkyst, owner Lene Jensen said customers sometimes leave fitting rooms wearing clothes they have not paid for. Staff have found torn-off price tags hidden behind mirrors.

René Ejstrup, who runs a Spar grocery store in Hirtshals, said thefts account for about one percent of his turnover. He has installed video surveillance, put up signs warning that all thefts are reported to the police and moved some expensive goods, including beef tenderloin, into storage.

Despite those measures, expensive deodorants, vodka and instant coffee continue to disappear from the store.

According to Statistics Denmark, 27,422 shoplifting cases were reported in 2025, compared with 16,889 in 2019. The figure peaked at 27,996 in 2024.

Criminologist Rasmus Munksgaard of Aalborg University said the increase may be less dramatic than the figures suggest because shops may have become better at detecting and reporting thefts.

Martensen said he hoped the expert’s advice would help slow the trend, even if it did not eliminate the problem.