Shoplifting numbers, who’s stealing, and why they’re stealing have become hot-button talk-show topics, so it’s no surprise that retailers have reported an increase in theft.
“Retailers report increases across various methods of external theft (cargo/supply chain
theft, shoplifting, and walkout/pushout theft) as well as digital and online fraud (phone
scams, ecommerce fraud, and repeat offender theft). The survey showed a combined
19% increase in external shoplifting and merchandise theft incidents from 2023 to 2024,” according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2025 Impact of Retail Theft & Violence Report.
The NRF does not break out shoplifting from other types of theft, such as internal loss and organized retail crime (ORC), but it indicates that shoplifting has trended upward in the past few years.
“Retailers reported a 93% increase in average annual shoplifting incidents in 2023 compared with pre-pandemic 2019 levels,” the NRF reported in its 2024 report.
One retailer, Walmart, appears to be facing a bigger problem than its rivals, according to a new Lending Tree report.
More Americans say they are shoplifting
More Americans are shoplifting, according to Lending Tree’s survey.
“30% of Americans say they’ve shoplifted, up significantly from 23% in 2024. The behavior is most common among younger consumers, with 39% of Gen Zers and 38% of millennials reporting they’ve shoplifted. Among those who’ve shoplifted, 37% say they did so within the past year, up from 23% in 2024,” the report showed.
The state of the economy has been the key factor explaining why more people are stealing from retailers.
“Among those who say they shoplifted in the past year, 90% cite inflation and the broader economy as contributing factors. Across all respondents who say they’ve shoplifted, the most commonly cited reasons include financial struggles (28%) and items being too expensive to afford (19%),” according to Lending Tree.
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Dietrich Oberwittler, a criminologist and research group leader at the Max Planck Institute in Freiburg, believes the economic situation, especially inflation, has played a major role in the rise in shoplifting.
“People want to maintain their standard of living, and when they see the enormous price increases of recent years, some people think: ‘I’m not going to pay that,'” according to a report from the Institute.
LendingTree commissioned QuestionPro to conduct an online survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 80 from June 2 to 11, 2026. The survey used a nonprobability-based sample, with quotas applied to help reflect the overall population. Researchers also reviewed responses for quality control.
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Walmart has a shoplifting problem
Walmart does not mention shrink, which would include shoplifting, in its earnings call very often.
CFO John David Rainey did mention it during the chain’s second-quarter earnings call, and his comments suggest the numbers have improved.
“A couple of years ago, we encountered a higher level of shrink in the business. We demonstrated that we navigated that really well,” he said.
Consumers, however, see Walmart as a target for theft.
“When asked which retailers are easiest to shoplift from, respondents most frequently identify Walmart (47%), followed by Family Dollar (21%), Amazon Fresh (14%), Kroger (11%) and Costco (10%). Another 14% say they aren’t sure which retailers are the easiest to shoplift from,” LendingTree reported.
Walmart shares the consequences of theft
Former Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, who stepped down at the end of January 2026, talked about rising theft and its consequences.
“It’s higher than what it has historically been,” he told CNBC.
He was clear about the potential impact of rising theft.
“Prices will be higher and/or stores will close if authorities not being strict about prosecuting theft isn’t corrected over time,” he said.
Walmart did not return a request from TheStreet to comment on the survey results.
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