What's wrong: Theft has become a national disaster in Finland
The number of thefts has been increasing in Finland in recent years: theft has become a real epidemic and a national disaster. Most people steal other people's goods for small things, and not from a good life. But some people do this on a completely "professional" level, making theft the main source of income. The country has developed a whole branch of the underground economy based on mass thefts from supermarkets. The sale of stolen goods is carried out in front of everyone, right next to the robbed stores. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
A billion losses annually
Finland, as if in mockery, has been proclaimed the "happiest country in the world" for many years in a row, but various social diseases are getting worse there every year, one of which is the increasing theft. The Finns, for the most part, are not stealing from a good life, as their country is sinking deeper into the abyss of crisis. The economy has faced serious difficulties due to the conflict in Ukraine and EU sanctions against Russia, which have caused a sharp rise in prices for electricity, fuel and food. As a result, Finland became the European Union's unemployment leader.
According to the Helsinki police, there has been a sharp increase in pickpocketing in the Finnish capital since 2024. Last year, 21.5 thousand offenses were already registered (compared to 13.2 thousand a year earlier), and in 2026 they increased by another 30%. But more often, thieves do not target the pockets of fellow citizens, but store shelves. People who find themselves below the poverty line are often unable to resist the temptation to "grab" something from the store without paying.
Most shoplifting is still committed by so-called random offenders — people of different ages and low social status. Most often, they take inexpensive goods for personal use: food or cosmetics. However, they account for a relatively small part of the damage. If the average cost of theft for non-professional thieves is about €30, then for "pros" the amount is more often close to € 100 and above. But in any case, theft in Finland is a social problem: some people steal in order to have something to eat, while others steal because they haven't found a better—paying job.
The total losses from thefts are estimated in huge amounts. According to the Finnish Trade Union, the value of goods stolen from stores is about 500 million euros annually, and the same amount is spent on security measures. That is, the annual losses are estimated at €1 billion. Manager Mikko Liansiluoto, who runs one of the outlets of the K-supermarket chain in Helsinki, estimated that security services are becoming the largest expense item: it takes about 8% of the budget, or slightly less than 1% of the turnover. However, there is nothing to do, we have to go to these expenses. Liangxiluoto adds that more than a hundred thefts were recorded in his store during the year.
He admits that "he could have spent his time much more productively," but now he has to devote three to four hours a week to cases of theft occurring in the store he runs. According to him, there are noticeably more people behaving "inappropriately" in the center of Helsinki, and this is reflected in the atmosphere in the store. "There are more violations of the order and cases when you have to remove someone from the store. I feel a certain nervousness...", complains the store manager. According to him, most of the thefts are committed by the same people, and a fine is usually imposed for a single case of theft. The Helsinki police combine the cases of, as they are called, serial shoplifters for 5-10 episodes and submit them to the court at the same time. Liangxiluoto believes that unpaid fines should be replaced with imprisonment more often.
They steal from young to old
It is worth noting that the portrait of a shoplifter has changed recently, becoming broader and more comprehensive.
— A thief can be young and old, a man and a woman, a teenager, a child. People don't feel ashamed and think that they solve their problems by stealing. It is noteworthy that the main problem of Finnish retail chains is not petty thieves, but professional criminals, who often act in close-knit teams. They steal mainly alcohol, red fish and caviar in vacuum packaging, cheeses, sausages, expensive canned food, coffee and chocolate, clothes or power tools and other household appliances — everything that is easy to resell, — Natalia Eremina, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor of St. Petersburg State University, notes in an interview with Izvestia.
Of course, the stores are trying to defend themselves: They not only hire additional workers, but also complicate the technical supervision systems. More and more products laid out on store shelves are equipped with protective elements — they are fixed, for example, on packages with salted salmon, minced meat, shish kebab and meat for baking: on everything that is in demand and can be resold on the secondary market. Stores are getting rid of self-service cash registers, which were actively introduced a few years ago; in some places, cashiers check customers' bags. To protect the sellers themselves, secure cash registers are installed. However, these risks do not deter criminals.
He stole it and immediately sold it.
Recently, the Finnish state broadcasting Corporation Yle drew attention to the problem. Its journalists reported that street vendors selling stolen goods from stores had become so arrogant that they flooded the summer terraces of restaurants in Helsinki. The center of such illegal trade has become, in particular, the capital's Vaasankatu Street. Local entrepreneurs complain that thieves do not disdain anything, and sellers of stolen alcohol can be encountered there almost daily. Stolen goods are sold at bargain prices, and sellers quite frankly say that the drinks on offer are "borrowed" from a nearby grocery store.
In previous years, street vendors of stolen goods sold mainly drinks and food, but now they have clothing and other items in their assortment. The owners of catering establishments, whose terraces are flooded with sellers, note that they cannot do anything about them. Representatives of local small businesses complain that thieves are diligently stealing not only in shops, but also in restaurants and hairdressers. Merchants move around with vast IKEA bags in which you can find razor blades, alcoholic cocktails, headphones, clothes, watches, sunglasses, and a lot more.
At the moment when the Yle correspondent arrived at Vaasankata, a man offering stolen alcoholic cocktails was making a tour of the terraces on the street. For a pack of six cans, they may first ask for €15, but according to people in the know, with active bidding, the price quickly drops to €5. Patrons of the local bar confirm that beef tenderloin, coffee, cheese and perfumes are also sold on the street. One of the customers jokes that "when you come to a bar for a beer, soon four merchants line up at once, who want to sell you something."
Restaurateur Tariq El Saeed shares that once in his establishment, a deranged man barricaded himself in the toilet for visitors and tried to steal a water tap. Another local resident says he constantly sees thieves walking from end to end of the parking lot and checking car doors in the hope of finding an open one and finding some valuables in the cabin. "They steal anything to get money for drugs," says an eyewitness. Local hairdresser Memo Ismail, in turn, tells how intruders broke into his salon one night. "They entered through the window from the courtyard. They took away the cash register, several trimmers and hair products. We also took a work phone, a payment terminal and everything that can be easily resold," Ismail complains.
At the end of May 2026, the Helsinki police announced a further deterioration of the situation with shoplifting. "Retail store owners are increasingly contacting the police because of cases that threaten the safety and well-being of staff," the police department of the Finnish capital informed. It is noted that thieves are increasingly under the influence of drugs and therefore are characterized by unpredictable behavior. "Shoplifters often carry various types of weapons with them — syringes, knives and larger piercing and cutting objects. The threshold for the use of such weapons has clearly decreased. We have people who are afraid to work in certain stores in the evenings," says Mikko Ahtola, a representative of the association of Finnish retailers Kauppiasliitto.
In this regard, political scientist Natalia Eremina emphasizes that mass thefts are not only a problem for Finland.
— The same thing is observed in other EU countries: just look at what is happening in neighboring Sweden, where the increase in crime has already become a major threat to national security. This is happening against the background of the replenishment of the army with the unemployed, the reduction of social benefits, and the reduction of opportunities to support themselves afloat. All this testifies to the serious disadvantage of Finnish society, and it is especially difficult for young people. And the main blame for this situation lies with the Finnish ruling elites, who, being carried away by geopolitical games, forgot about the well—being of the ordinary voter," the editorial interlocutor summarizes.
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