One in five Australians shoplifting from supermarkets: Survey
2 Min Read
Cost-of-living pressures are causing Aussies to steal at supermarket self-service checkouts and petrol bowsers.
-
Raging food crisis with prices at least doubling
Nearly one in every five Australians steal from supermarkets by engaging in dishonest behavior at self-service checkouts, according to a recent survey.
In new research, 9% of shoppers admitted to not scanning items before leaving the supermarket, while another 10% deliberately lied about what they had scanned to get a cheaper price - for example, putting avocado on the scales but saying it was an onion.
That is according to a nationally representative survey of 1010 respondents conducted by Finder.
Read more: West behind rising oil, food prices: Putin
Extrapolating throughout the country, it would mean that 3.8 million Australians stole in the last year. "Of course, most self-checkout machines can't tell brown onions from portobello mushrooms," he said.
"I suspect a lot of Australians don't regard scanning items incorrectly on purpose to be the same level of theft as running out of a shop with a loaf of bread."
According to the data, 2% of Australians have dined and dashed in the last year. 6% said they had driven away without paying for petrol. If you haven't stolen anything in the past year, you are among 81% of Australians.
Read next: World Food Prices at 10-Year Peak
