Parcel theft UK: what Quadient's 2025 report found

Parcel theft UK figures have reached a record. According to Quadient's 2025 Parcel Theft Report, £666.5m worth of parcels was stolen from British doorsteps in twelve months, and on 13 May 2026 the company published a follow-up arguing that the damage goes well beyond the cost of the goods. This article sets out what the two releases measured, how far the numbers can be trusted, and which defences actually match the problem.

What the 2025 Parcel Theft Report measured

Quadient, the French technology company behind the Parcel Pending locker brand, has run the study for four years. The 2025 edition, released on 11 November 2025, combines three sources: Freedom of Information requests to 45 UK police forces (27 replied, covering a population of about 32.37 million), a Censuswide survey of 2,000 UK adults carried out in September 2025, and retail data. Only 13 forces supplied the value of the parcels reported stolen, which matters for the headline figure below.

Parcel and Postal Technology International reported the release the same day, and its summary agrees with Quadient's own on every number.

Source: Quadient, published 11 November 2025; figures as reported by Parcel and Postal Technology International on the same date.

By recorded reports, the busiest forces were Leicestershire (799), Hertfordshire (767) and Kent (750); the City of London logged 3 and Cheshire 16. With one theft in 353 being reported, those totals say as much about how willing people in an area are to report as about how much theft there is.

The May 2026 follow-up: the cost that is not on the receipt

On 13 May 2026 Quadient issued a second analysis of the same survey, covered that day by Parcel and Postal Technology International and by Retail Technology Innovation Hub. Its framing was that 4.83 million victimised homes works out at one parcel taken roughly every seven seconds. The new figures were about how theft felt rather than what it cost:

• 37% of victims said it caused them stress and anxiety, 42% of women against 33% of men.
• 26% said it left them feeling unsafe or more vulnerable where they live.
• 26% said it held them up from doing something important, and 24% said it meant letting someone down, such as a missed birthday present.
• 29% said it left them out of pocket, typically after struggling to secure a refund or replacement.

Katia Bourgeais-Crémel, Director of Lockers Automation Europe at Quadient, summed up the release in one line:

"Parcel theft isn't just about lost goods, it's about lost peace of mind."

The survey also recorded how people change their habits after a theft. According to Quadient, 38% alter their delivery instructions, 30% begin using parcel lockers, and 13% avoid shopping online altogether. A further 21% had not been hit themselves but knew someone who had, and 65% of that group said it made them more careful about deliveries.

How reliable are the parcel theft UK figures?

The numbers deserve to be read with their limits in view. Three points stand out.

1. The £666.5m is an estimate built on a partial base. Barely more than half of the forces approached replied, and only 13 gave values. Scaling that to the whole country requires assumptions the press releases do not spell out.
2. The survey and the police data measure different things. Police figures count reports; the 4.83 million homes figure comes from what 2,000 people told a pollster. The gap between them is the one in 353 ratio, which is less a finding than a measure of how rarely victims bother to call.
3. The publisher sells the remedy. Quadient manufactures parcel lockers, and every release ends by recommending them. That does not make the data wrong, and the FOI method is checkable, but it is a reason to weigh the conclusions as well as the counts.

None of this undoes the direction of travel. The average stolen parcel rose from £102 to £138 between the two editions, and Quadient's own consumer findings show 64% of people would feel safer with a locker or collection point and 68% would rather miss a delivery than risk it being taken.

Your rights when a parcel goes missing from the doorstep

For most online orders, a stolen doorstep parcel is the retailer's problem before it is yours. Section 29 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says goods "remain at the trader's risk until they come into the physical possession of" the consumer or a person the consumer has named to receive them. A courier photograph of a box on your step is not, on its own, possession.

In practice:

1. Contact the retailer, not the courier, and ask for a replacement or refund under that section.
2. Report the theft to police on 101 or online and keep the reference. Given the one in 353 figure, most thefts never enter the police data at all, and a reference number is also what a retailer or insurer may ask for.
3. Change what you can for next time: a named neighbour, a collection point, a locker, or a delivery window when someone is in.

Naming a neighbour moves the risk to that neighbour's doorstep, so choose one who is reliably at home.

Can a Bluetooth tag stop porch pirates?

Plainly, no, and it is worth saying why before anyone buys one for this purpose. The parcels in Quadient's report are almost all inbound deliveries packed in a warehouse you never visit. There is no moment at which you could put a tag inside, and a tag does nothing to stop a box being lifted from a step in the first place. Lockers, collection points and delivery instructions are the measures that address the problem the report describes.

There is also a specific reason not to plant a tag in a decoy parcel and give chase. Apple's anti-stalking protections alert an iPhone owner when an unfamiliar Find My accessory travels with them, so a thief carrying an iPhone may be warned that a tag is travelling with them. More importantly, going to a stranger's address to recover property is how a theft becomes a confrontation: give the location to the police instead. Our guide to whether a tracker really helps recover stolen property covers how to hand a location over usefully.

How Beacon Tag helps

Where Beacon Tag earns its place is the property that sits around a doorstep rather than arriving on it: house keys, a bike locked in the porch, a gardening bag, the spare car fob. It works with Apple Find My on iPhone only (iOS 14.5 or later), not Android, so it suits a household that already carries iPhones. Within about 60 metres your phone talks to it directly over Bluetooth; beyond that, any passing Apple device on the Find My network can relay its position, encrypted end to end, without the passer-by knowing. It has no Ultra Wideband, so there is no on-screen arrow, but an 80 to 100 dB speaker does the job of finding keys under a cushion. The CR2032 cell lasts up to two years and is replaceable, and the case is IP67. If you are unsure what it is lawful to tag, our article on putting a tracker on your own things covers it.

A box of two costs under £15 with free UK delivery, so see Beacon Tag here if the things by your front door are the ones you would miss.

Sources

• Parcel and Postal Technology International, 13 May 2026
• Retail Technology Innovation Hub, 13 May 2026
• Quadient newsroom, May 2026
• Parcel and Postal Technology International, 11 November 2025
• Parcel Pending by Quadient, The 2025 Parcel Theft Report, 11 November 2025
• Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 29