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Courts NZ

The number of adults convicted in court, each counted once by their most serious offence was 50,476 (Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa, 2025).

Updated

Adults whose charges were finalised in court each calendar year since 1980, counted once by their most serious offence, and the outcome: convicted, other proved (e.g. discharged without conviction), or not proved.

Adults convicted in court each calendar year since 1980, by their most serious sentence: imprisonment, community sentences (such as community work, supervision, home and community detention), or fines and other monetary penalties.

Counts people per year by their most serious offence, not individual charges. Falls can reflect fewer prosecutions, police diversion, or changes in court processes as well as less offending.

Survey results include crimes people report experiencing, whether or not they told Police. Court and prison counts describe later stages of the justice system and cover different groups of people.

Read the period beside each number before comparing it with another figure. A monthly observation, a quarterly result and a financial year cover different spans of time. The latest release can also revise earlier observations. The chart and downloads keep the published periods so you can check which figures are being compared. A change in courts describes what happened during that period; it does not by itself explain why it happened or identify the effect of a government policy. Definitions and coverage matter as much as the size of a change.

Sources: Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa. Last retrieved 11 October 2026.

Courts, Adults in court: charges finalised and convictions: number, 1980 to 2025

ConvictedAdults with finalised chargesOther proved (e.g. discharge without conviction, diversion)Not proved
Courts. Convicted, 1980 to 2025, latest 50,476. Adults with finalised charges, 1980 to 2025, latest 65,066. Other proved (e.g. discharge without conviction, diversion), 1980 to 2025, latest 5,875. Not proved, 1980 to 2025, latest 8,426.050,000100,000150,000200,0001980198819962004201220202025
Show the figures
PeriodConvicted (number)Adults with finalised charges (number)Other proved (e.g. discharge without conviction, diversion) (number)Not proved (number)
202550,47665,0665,8758,426
202450,57865,8215,7439,255
202349,24063,0945,0118,586
202247,41160,0584,3378,031
202145,76257,4093,9117,468
202051,83464,6634,7987,770
201956,95770,8765,5198,212
201860,61873,5115,5407,141
201764,35077,6966,0507,060
201664,56577,6226,2996,559
201563,68076,5986,3926,363
201468,77682,3996,6206,833
201374,71790,3827,2488,218
201281,15199,2128,1239,757
201187,140106,6789,33810,006
201095,404119,61513,03611,047
200999,766127,15015,03312,235
200895,067121,94214,36912,319
200788,401113,51313,47211,539
200681,973105,48812,10911,320
Full data: court outcomes
2025Convicted 50,476Adults with finalised charges 65,066Other proved (e.g. discharge without conviction, diversion) 5,875Not proved 8,426

Adults whose charges were finalised in court each calendar year since 1980, counted once by their most serious offence, and the outcome: convicted, other proved (e.g. discharged without conviction), or not proved.

Courts. Convicted: 50,476 in 2025. Adults with finalised charges: 65,066 in 2025. Other proved (e.g. discharge without conviction, diversion): 5,875 in 2025. Not proved: 8,426 in 2025.

Each measure retains its own definition and period. Lines break at changes in basis and missing periods. Choose a measure to see its note and readout.

Download CSVDownload JSONAnalyse with AI

Full downloads for every dataset on this page:

Adults in court: charges finalised and convictionsCSVJSON
Adults convicted, by most serious sentenceCSVJSON

Courts: definitions

Adults in court: charges finalised and convictions

Adults whose charges were finalised in court each calendar year since 1980, counted once by their most serious offence, and the outcome: convicted, other proved (e.g. discharged without conviction), or not proved.

Adults convicted, by most serious sentence

Adults convicted in court each calendar year since 1980, by their most serious sentence: imprisonment, community sentences (such as community work, supervision, home and community detention), or fines and other monetary penalties.

Courts: comparison limits

These affect how far the figures can be compared.

Adults in court: charges finalised and convictions

  • Counts people per year by their most serious offence, not individual charges.
  • Falls can reflect fewer prosecutions, police diversion, or changes in court processes as well as less offending.
  • Excludes children and young people (Youth Court).
  • 'Other proved' jumps from about 2,800 a year to 12,000–14,000 between 2002 and 2004; Stats NZ's table does not explain why, so treat it as a break and compare years on either side with care.

Adults convicted, by most serious sentence

  • Each person is counted once per year, by their most serious sentence.
  • Sentence types changed over time: home detention became a sentence in 2007 (before that it was a way of serving a prison sentence), and community detention and intensive supervision began in 2007.
  • Ministry of Justice data published by Stats NZ.

Courts by NZ government

The last published observation before each term began and ended. The current term uses the latest observation.Change since a government took office is not the same as its effect.

Prime ministersIn officeStartEndChange
MuldoonDec 1975 to Jul 1984Not available81,911 (1983)Not available
Lange, Palmer, MooreJul 1984 to Nov 199081,911 (1983)103,177 (1989)A rise of 21,266
Bolger, ShipleyNov 1990 to Dec 1999103,177 (1989)76,785 (1998)A fall of 26,392
ClarkDec 1999 to Nov 200876,785 (1998)88,401 (2007)A rise of 11,616
Key, EnglishNov 2008 to Oct 201788,401 (2007)64,565 (2016)A fall of 23,836
Ardern, HipkinsOct 2017 to Nov 202364,565 (2016)47,411 (2022)A fall of 17,154
LuxonNov 2023 to now47,411 (2022)50,476 (2025, latest)A rise of 3,065 so far
Compare governments on any measure

Courts: data by period

The latest ten published periods for up to six series in each dataset. The downloads contain every observation.

Adults in court: charges finalised and convictions

Adults whose charges were finalised in court each calendar year since 1980, counted once by their most serious offence, and the outcome: convicted, other proved (e.g. discharged without conviction), or not proved.

PeriodAdults with finalised chargesConvictedOther proved (e.g. discharge without conviction, diversion)Not proved
202565,06650,4765,8758,426
202465,82150,5785,7439,255
202363,09449,2405,0118,586
202260,05847,4114,3378,031
202157,40945,7623,9117,468
202064,66351,8344,7987,770
201970,87656,9575,5198,212
201873,51160,6185,5407,141
201777,69664,3506,0507,060
201677,62264,5656,2996,559

Adults convicted, by most serious sentence

Adults convicted in court each calendar year since 1980, by their most serious sentence: imprisonment, community sentences (such as community work, supervision, home and community detention), or fines and other monetary penalties.

PeriodAll convicted adultsImprisonment sentences (incl. life and preventive detention)Community sentencesMonetary (fines, reparation)Home detention
202550,4767,74122,63413,4643,438
202450,5787,03422,34515,0783,124
202349,2406,20321,57415,7762,823
202247,4115,00620,61516,6602,652
202145,7625,28220,60814,5012,490
202051,8346,56523,06815,8972,752
201956,9576,87124,75018,3112,699
201860,6187,63125,81220,3502,949
201764,3508,68927,33221,2523,036
201664,5658,56127,20821,5322,844

Courts: questions for your AI

Download the files, attach them in the assistant you use, then paste the prompt. Its answer is its own reading of the data.

  1. 1Download court-outcomes.csv
  2. 2Attach it in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or another assistant
  3. 3
    Paste this prompt

    The attached CSV is adults in court: charges finalised and convictions, from Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa. Describe how each measure has changed, naming its unit and period. Treat changes in basis and missing periods as breaks. Do not infer causation from government terms. Read the limits before comparing. Supporting datasets: court-outcomes, convictions-by-sentence.

Questions about courts in NZ

Short answers with their definitions, sources and limits.

How many people are convicted each year?

Related NZ data

These topics put courts alongside other measures.

Spending: Government financesPopulation: Economy and incomes

Courts: sources

The source publication, licence and snapshot used to build this page.

Organisation
Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa, Adults with finalised charges in court, by outcome (calendar years)
Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). This work is based on Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Reuse limits
Photos, graphics and logos are excluded. Stats NZ logos and government emblems must not be used.
Snapshot
data/raw/statsnz-court-outcomes/2026-10-11_95f99699bc2f.csv
SHA256
95f99699bc2f416d512a421495f475fb9da9be5b23934436802bfe349b5ec7ae
Retrieved
11 October 2026

Courts: sources

The source publication, licence and snapshot used to build this page.

Organisation
Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa, Adults convicted in court by most serious sentence (calendar years)
Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). This work is based on Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Reuse limits
Photos, graphics and logos are excluded. Stats NZ logos and government emblems must not be used.
Snapshot
data/raw/statsnz-convictions-sentence/2026-10-11_7a3dec9a97ef.csv
SHA256
7a3dec9a97ef4dc96283f17c55ffaa90bb6ba7b13518c6bb832cb6dfd3e861c8
Retrieved
11 October 2026