Democratic Republic Of Congo And UAE Tops UK’s Stolen Car Destinations

Democratic Republic of Congo and UAE led the list of top five countries where stolen vehicles from the UK are exported to.

Third and fourth are Cyprus and Jamaica, while Georgia completed the list of top five destinations of vehicles stolen in the UK.

Parts scarcity, vehicle desirability, natural disasters and geopolitical event listed as factors driving the illegal export market.

Thatcham Research’s data reveals that 52% of the vehicles intercepted were premium cars and 79% of all interceptions were SUVs.

Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa and United Arab Emirates (UAE) led the list of top five countries where stolen vehicles from the United Kingdom are exported to in a new study conducted by Thatcham Research and National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS).

According to the new data (2021-2024) by Thatcham Research and NaVCIS, most of vehicles stolen during this period in the UK ended up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (38.5%) and the UAE (20.1%).

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Third and fourth on the list are Cyprus (6.7%) and Jamaica (5.7%), with Thatcham Research noting that both countries drive on the left, while Georgia (5.1%) completed the list of top five destinations of vehicles stolen in the United Kingdom.

Despite the UK having the highest standards of vehicle security in the world, vehicles are still being actively targeted by organised and sophisticated criminal gangs, with insurers settling claims worth £640m in 2024, according to Thatcham Research.

Thatcham Research lists scarcity of vehicle parts, desirability of certain markets and models, geopolitical events and even natural disasters as some of the factors driving the spike in motor crime and illegal export marker.

“We will continue to work with vehicle makers to improve vehicle security and establish how to remotely disable stolen vehicles in a safe manner, as well as making stolen parts more difficult to reuse,” Chief Research and Operations Officer at Thatcham Research, Richard Billyeald commented.

“Parts scarcity, vehicle desirability, natural disasters and geopolitical events is driving an illegal market in a wide variety of luxury cars, SUVs and pickups, with insurers settling claims worth £640m in 2024.”

Thatcham Research’s new data also reveals that 52 percent of the vehicles intercepted by NaVCIS before being shipped were from premium and luxury manufacturers and 79 percent of all interceptions were Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs).

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