Businesses fall victim to crime four times per hour in the West Midlands.
An exclusive analysis of police recorded crimes reveals that in 2017/18 there were 37,527 committed against businesses.
The figures include crimes like shoplifting, burglary, robbery, theft by an employee, making off without payment and theft from an automatic
machine or meter.
Overall, there were 4.3 crimes every hour on average affecting West Midlands businesses.
It works out as 1,348 “business crimes” for every 100,000 people living in the area, one of the highest rates in England and Wales and
higher than the national average.
Shoplifting was the most common “business crime”, with 19,883 recorded over the year.
There were 8,642 crimes of making off without paying , 6,279 burglaries , 869 attempted burglaries , and seven aggravated burglaries - when the criminal carries a weapon.
There were also 910 robberies , 359 thefts by employees and 578 thefts from an automatic machine or meter .
Across England and Wales, there were 619,074 crimes against businesses in 2017/18, which works out as 1,087 for every 100,000 people.
Larger areas like London, the West Midlands or Greater Manchester generally see the highest numbers.
But the highest rate of business crime is actually in Cleveland, where there were 1,920 for every 100,000 people.
Humberside was second (1,480 for every 100,000 people) and Northumbria third (1,469 for every 100,000 people).
Shoplifting was the most common crime, with 382,100 cases recorded.
Burglaries were second (109,279 crimes), followed by people making off without paying (86,528 crimes).
There were 18,080 attempted burglaries and 10,466 thefts from an employee, as well as 7,649 robberies and 4,600 thefts from an automatic machine or meter.
