Harrowing figures reveal two in every phone thefts across Europe happen in the UK, as county line gangs turn to snatching phones instead of dealing drugs.
Gaining the title of 'leading country for missing devices in Europe', Britain has seen phone theft claims quadruple since June 2021.
Data suggests London epicentre of the phone theft epidemic, with one in every six phones nabbed across the continent happening in the capital.
These alarming statistics, provided by the American insurance firm SquareTrade, found that Brits accounted for 39% of all phone loss claims
This was despite only accounting for 10 per cent of the gadget insurance firm's customers across its 12 European markets.
London laid claim to nearly half of all UK phone thefts, with Birmingham ranking second.
The data, published by The Times, also revealed that thefts occurred more frequently during busy travel periods such as summer months and Christmas, when more people are out shopping or attending festivals.
These findings were supported by figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which showed 'theft from a person' rose by 50% over the past year, totalling 483,000 incidents.
The most common item stolen in these cases was the mobile phone.
In 2024 alone, 70,371 phones were stolen in London – up around 20,000 in 2020.
However, due to a lack of reporting from victims, the true number is likely to be significantly higher.
To crack down on the crimewave, the Home Office promised last September to increase patrols in high-risk areas.
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Sir Sadiq Khan has come under-fire for his handling of the issue, having been accused of "virtually ignoring the problem" by City Hall Conservatives.
But the Mayor of London insisted he i continuing to support the force with "record funding" to tackle the epidemic.
SquareTrade reported that iPhones were the most stolen device, with claims on average totalling to £1,200.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max was the most commonly stolen device, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max coming in second place, followed by the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
The Metropolitan Police estimate that phone theft is costing Londoners and visitors at least £70million a year, with county line gangs increasingly targeting smartphones due to surging overseas demand.
Young people are reportedly being groomed by gang members to carry out the thefts, as they are likely to get softer sentences if they are caught.
Police chiefs say that the stolen devices are being shipped abroad in bulk and resold, with an estimated 80% of the 80,000 phones stolen every year in London ending up overseas.
Officers have called on Apple and Google to do more to deter the trade – by making a phone worthless after it has been taken.
At least 230 phones were stolen every day on average in the UK last year, doubling the figure from five years ago – and the number is continuing to rise.
