UK’s top 10 pickpocket hotspots all in London amid phone theft epidemic, data reveals [Video]

The country’s top 10 pickpocket hotspots are all in London, according to new data analysis.

The Westminster City Council area in central London was the worst area for pickpockets in the country, with 133.21 reports per 100,000 people, analysis of latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show.

Westminster also topped the list of areas which have seen the biggest increase in pickpocketing cases, with a three-year change of 712.32 per cent.

Most pickpocket incidents recorded are thought to be phone thefts.

Camden has the UK’s the second-highest pickpocketing rates, with more than 6,800 pickpocketing incidents recorded across the borough which is equivalent to 31.4 per 1,000 people, according to analysis by licensing firm Get Licensed.

Southwark had the country’s third highest rate of pickpocketing, the data suggests, with almost 6,000 pickpocketing incidents between 2023 and 2024.

Other London boroughs making up the top 10 included Kensington and Chelsea, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, …