Car theft has remained at a 15-year high, with almost 130,000 vehicles stolen in the UK every year and three-quarters of cases never solved.
Data from the Office of National Statistics shows that despite car theft being at its highest point since the 2000s and attention being focused on the issue, the number of vehicles stolen only fell by a negligible 960 units in the last reporting period - from 130,119 in the 12 months from March 2022 to 129,159 in the 12 months from March 2023.
Such a consistently high level of theft has been attributed to thieves becoming increasingly wise to ever-tightening car security, using methods such as keyless car theft. The lack of dedicated vehicle theft taskforces in police departments has also been highlighted.
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