pilferage

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The individual act or recurring practice of stealing items of low value, especially in small quantities, for which the legal term is petty theft.

   “Sir Thomas Royden, Chairman of the L.M.S.R., and Mr. Robert Holland-Martin, Chairman of the Southern Railway, both deplored the wholesale robbery and petty pilferage which have increased until they have reached appalling dimensions.”

   “Still, there is pilferage, mysterious discrepancies eating into the percentages.”