New Data Shows Car Crime Is Bleeding Billions From UK

In the last ten years, car theft in the UK has increased by 75% to over 130,000 automobiles annually. Not just luxury automobiles like Rolls-Royces and Range Rovers are frequently stolen, but also models like the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Golf.

Automobiles frequently wind up in Central Asian and African nations where automobiles are costly and scarce. A new analysis claims that cars are being stolen and shipped from the United Kingdom within 24 hours, costing the British economy and customers billions of pounds.

In a research released Thursday June 29, the military and security think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) stated that organized criminal gangs are responsible for the country’s car theft spike, which has increased by 75% over the last ten years to over 130,000 vehicles annually.

The research indicates that the most stolen car models are the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Golf.

Organized crime gangs can readily seize them by using and adapting advanced vehicle theft technologies, which are rapidly modified when automakers implement anti-theft countermeasures.

According to investigations, cars are “stolen, loaded, and taken out of the U.K. within a day, thanks to the methods, networks, and tried-and-true smuggling routes of organized crime groups.” This means that car theft is no longer a low-level, opportunistic crime, but rather a high-value, low-risk form of serious and organized crime with domestic and international dimensions.

Criminals are become more self-assured and organized, making it easier for them to supply markets with strong demand for parts or complete automobiles and expensive or scarce vehicles.

According to reports, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia in the Caucasus, Cyprus (which, like the United Kingdom, has left-hand drive), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are some important export destinations for stolen high-value automobiles.

According to the survey, consumers seek out the cheapest option, which frequently comes from the illegal market and was first stolen off a drive, as a result of general rises in the cost of parts and vehicles as well as a shortage of supply in those marketplaces.

Vehicle thefts are significantly affecting drivers in the United Kingdom as well as the broader economy, in addition to the personal expenses incurred by owners of stolen vehicles.

In addition to driving an 82% increase in auto insurance rate quotes since 2021, vehicle theft currently costs the UK economy approximately £1.77 billion [$2.43 billion] annually. These expenses are exacerbated by rising repair costs, vehicle pricing, and broader economic pressures.

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Based on data gathered by the U.K. Home Office, the estimated £1.77 billion represents a social and economic “cost of crime” metric that includes the cost of preventing crime, the financial harm done to the victim—whether a person or a business—and the expense of cleaning up the theft.

For instance, more stolen vehicles are being shipped to Central and West Africa from Canada— but there are some specific problems that make the U.K. more vulnerable to such crime, such as its geographical location, the fact it’s an island, and the prioritizing of violent crime by its budget-constrained police force.

The U.K. is obviously a global trading partner that has many, many interactions and trade relationships with the UAE and Africa and elsewhere.