More than 116,000 mobile phones were stolen in London last year, or 320 every single day, new figures show.
Data from the Metropolitan Police reveals there were 116,656 reported mobile thefts in 2024 – the highest number on record.
It was more than 50 per cent higher than the total recorded in 2017 when mobile thefts in the capital stood at just over 77,000.
Last year’s total was equivalent to 13 phones being stolen every hour.
It was 1,300 incidents higher than in the previous 12 months.
Despite the staggering number of thefts, only 169 suspects were charged in the year, and seven were let off with a caution.
The new figures, obtained from police under freedom of information laws by the campaign group Crush Crime, also showed a further 8,588 handset thefts in January this year.
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Scotland Yard figures, seen by the Daily Mail, revealed 116,656 mobile phones were reported stolen last year
The police data showed 61,000 of victims were female and just under 48,000 were male, with the remainder not recorded.
Dr Lawrence Newport, campaign founder, said: ‘We are in the midst of a phone theft epidemic, and our government is failing to act.
‘Our politicians need to wake up to reality: they need to stop this epidemic, and push our justice system to catch, convict and imprison these career criminals.
‘Half of all crime is committed by just 10 per cent of offenders, meaning only a small number of career criminals are committing most phone thefts.’
Astonishingly, from 2017 to 2024 the total number of mobile phones reported stolen was almost 684,000.
They were estimated to have a value of £365million, based on values reported to the police by victims.
Retailer Curry’s launched a new campaign earlier this month to warn Londoners of the risk of mobile phone theft
Signage warning pedestrians in London of the danger posed by mobile phone snatchers
The number of phone thefts climbed to 91,000 in 2019 but dipped during pandemic lockdowns.
It then went on to exceed the pre-Covid total in 2023, with just over 115,000 thefts.
The type of handset most commonly reported stolen last year was Apple iPhones, with just under 71,000, followed by Samsung phones, with 14,000.
Late afternoon and early evening was the time of day when most handset thefts took place.
For example, last year saw 8,231 between 4pm and 5pm; 8,806 between 5pm and 6pm; and 8,975 between 6pm and 7pm.
The lowest number of thefts was between 6am and 7am, with 1,036 reported in that timeslot during the year.
The London borough with the most phones stolen last year was Westminster, with 34,039.
Camden came second with 10,907, followed by Southwark with 7,316.
