Electronic devices, chemical and pharmaceutical products are becoming increasingly popular among cargo hijackers, while clothing and cigarettes comprise a smaller share of cargo theft statistics. This is the result of the GDV study, which analyzed 1,007 insured cargo thefts between 2017 and 2022 at random.
The share of electronic equipment in stolen goods increased from 12% to 19% during the analyzed period. Chemical and pharmaceutical products increased their share between 2017 and 2022, from 3% to 7%.
Thefts of clothing and cigarettes decreased between 2017 and 2022, from 8% to 3% and from 6 to 2%, respectively.
DSLV, a German organization, estimates that robberies of semi-trailers in Germany alone cause damage of 1.3 billion Euros annually. The association estimates that around 25,000 trucks were robbed in this country in 2020.
However, according to TAPA, cargo thefts in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) had clearly declined by the summer. Following a sharp increase in the number of cargo thefts reported to TAPA in May (936 incidents in 33 countries with a total loss of more than 12 million Euros), June was a quieter month, with 264 cargo-related crimes reported in 12 countries only. As a result of theft, losses amounted to slightly less than 1.2 million Euros.
The highest number of incidents was recorded in South Africa with 107 thefts. It is followed by Germany with 60 thefts, then France (38 thefts), the UK (22 thefts), Italy (13 thefts), and Spain (12 thefts).