PARIS, Sept 22: According to a study published in Le Figaro, shoplifting has become a major problem for department stores throughout Europe. Losses due to theft and shoplifting, says the French daily, have increased by a surprising five per cent since the beginning of the year in the major European department store chains.

Le Figaro says that overall losses due to shoplifting have reached the record level of 30.3 billion euros ($30 billion), or 1.45 per cent of revenues.

The principal country affected by the new phenomenon, according to the PanEuropean study, is Great Britain, where thefts accounted this year for 1.77 per cent of its stores’ revenues.

Switzerland was the country with the least important score, 0.85 per cent of revenues, indeed was one of the rare countries where the shoplifting phenomenon has been observed to decrease since last year.

As for France, it found itself slightly above the norm with 1.49 per cent.

The phenomenon, says Le Figaro, affects principally clothing stores, but also self-repair shops, with the larger department store chains being those most severely hit by shoplifters.