Nine in 10 rural retailers across the UK have been victims of crime over the past 12 months, according to new research, highlighting the growing reach of shoplifting and organised theft beyond urban centres.
The study by insurer NFU Mutual found that 91 per cent of retailers operating in rural locations – including farm shops and machinery suppliers – experienced at least one crime-related incident in the last year. The average financial loss for affected businesses stood at £83,000, while one in 20 victims reported losses exceeding £500,000.
Although retailers in inner cities recorded the highest levels of crime at 94 per cent, rural businesses were only marginally behind, matching the figures seen in urban areas.
The findings also revealed that crime is becoming increasingly frequent for many rural operators. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed said they had suffered more than six incidents in the past year, while only five per cent experienced a single crime.
Just under half (46%) of the 150 rural retailers surveyed said staff had been verbally abused during the past 12 months, while a quarter reported that members of staff had been physically assaulted.
More than three-quarters (77%) of those surveyed said they believed crime had increased in the UK over the last 12 months.
“We know first-hand the pain and disruption criminals cause our rural communities and retailers with these callous acts,” said Zoe Knight, the head of commercial at NFU Mutual.
“Farm shops are often family-run operations and embedded into the local communities. They have sadly been targeted in the past – and continue to be so – due to their remote locations, so it is vital that owners take all necessary and appropriative preventative steps to try to deter thieves.”
The NFU Mutual findings come amid wider concerns from retailers over the rise in organised shoplifting gangs targeting stores across the UK. Separate figures from the British Retail Consortium estimated there were 5.5 million incidents of shoplifting in 2025, costing the industry around £400 million.
This comes as the government’s crime and policing bill passed into law at the end of April, creating a stand-alone offence for assaulting a retail worker and removing the £200 threshold for “low-level” theft.