With travel uncertainty still playing a part in people’s holiday plans and guidance requiring travellers to pay for lateral flow and PCR tests to move around the globe, it’s no surprise that search interest continues to rise for places to holiday in the UK¹. comparethemarket.com reveals that there have been 138,722 pickpocketing thefts reported during 2019 and 2020 in the UK alone.

According to the figures, the top 20 worst places for pickpocket theft are:

London tops the list as the most searched for city destination for UK travellers², and travel demand to the capital has increased by 181% in the last year³. However, Westminster alone saw a staggering 19,690 thefts in 2019, although that number decreased by over 60% in 2020, no doubt due to the number of people at home because of Covid restrictions. Other areas that saw significant decreases include Sheffield, Leeds and Kensington and Chelsea in London.

During 2020, the British Transport Police reported a near 50% increase in thefts in Manchester and an increase of 200%  in Norfolk!

Although in ninth place overall, Leeds tops the table as the worst Northern city for pickpocketing.