Nearly 100,000 vehicle thefts reported in a year
New crime figures have revealed that vehicle thefts remain stubbornly high, with a car is stolen in England and Wales every five minutes.
Based on data from the Office for National Statistics, the Crime Survey for England and Wales has reported that about 96,000 vehicles were stolen from July 2024 to June 2025.
This is 4,000 fewer than the previous year but still well above the 58,000 vehicles stolen between 2016 and 2017.
The data also revealed there 649,000 vehicle-related thefts or attempted thefts in the 12 months before June, which equates to one incident every minute.
Graham Conway, managing director at Select Car Leasing, said: “There’s been a clear upward trend in vehicle theft since the mid-noughties and the latest crime figures continue to paint a worrying picture for motorists.
“Crooks are using ever-more sophisticated methods to swipe cars and vans, including the use of mimicking devices to hack keyless systems, while recovery rates are low as cars are exported or broken up for parts.
“If you drive a high-value vehicle, the latest figures could be enough to provoke some sleepless nights. Besides the theft of the vehicle itself, there were 424,000 incidents of thefts from cars and vans in the last year.”
