Source: Tertiary Education Commission
Headline: New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey released
The latest New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS) shows that around a third of adults were victims of a crime in 2024.
Published by the Ministry of Justice today, the latest survey is based on interviews with more than 7,000 New Zealanders between October 2023 and October 2024.
It found that 30 percent of adults (1.3m) were the victim of a personal or household crime in 2024.
“This finding is consistent with previous years since the survey began in 2018,” says Ministry of Justice General Manager Sector Insights Rebecca Parish.
“The NZCVS helps define the true rate of crime in New Zealand by asking participants about both reported and unreported experiences of crime. Each year only around a quarter of crime incidents are reported to Police.”
In 2024, there was a significant increase in the number of victims of sexual assault reporting to Police.
In the most recent survey, 32 percent of victims (28,000) reported at least one sexual assault offence to Police, compared to 7 percent (5,000) in 2018.
“When the reporting rate increases, it does not necessarily mean that the prevalence rate has also increased.
“In the case of sexual assault, rates of sexual assault remain broadly steady but more victims are reporting those assaults,” Ms Parish says.
“We are working to understand what is driving these findings. This will be further explored in the NZCVS Key Stories report which will be published at the end of May. This will contain further analysis and context for some of the trends in this report.”
In other key findings, 17 percent of adults were victims of personal offences (interpersonal violence, fraud and cybercrime, and threats and damages) in 2024, compared to 15 percent in 2018.
“This is mostly driven by an increase in fraud and cybercrime over the last two years,” Ms Parish says.
The NZCVS is shared with government agencies, NGOs and researchers who use it to understand the full picture of crime in New Zealand, both reported and unreported.
“The findings are used to help target investment at the people and communities that need it most, and to measure the performance of the justice system.”
The Government has set a target of less violent crime – with 20,000 fewer people the victims of assaults, robberies and sexual assaults by 2029.
The NZCVS is being used to monitor progress towards this target.
Other key findings
- Since the survey began there has been a slight decrease in both the proportion of households who were victims of household offences, and the number of incidents of household offences – 26 incidents per 100 households in 2024 compared to 33 incidents per 100 households in 2018. A decrease in burglary is driving this trend.
- The number of incidents of personal offences (interpersonal violence, fraud and cybercrime, and threats and damages) has remained around 30 incidents per 100 adults for every year of the survey. In 2024, it was 32 incidents per 100 adults.
- Victimisation rates for violent offences (physical and sexual assault, and robbery) have mostly remained steady compared to previous years.
- The survey consistently finds that adults aged 65+ are less likely than the New Zealand average to be the victim of at least one offence – 21 percent compared to 30 percent.
Quarterly violent crime updates
- The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet publishes a quarterly update on the Government’s Target 4 – Reduced violent crime using NZCVS data. The annual NZCVS year to October data provides the most robust measure of violence and is what we recommend for making comparisons over time, but the quarterly update provides a more regular snapshot.
- Using NZCVS year ending October 2024 data, there were 24,000 fewer victims of violent offending, compared to the year ending June 2024.
- The Government’s violent crime target aims to reduce the number of victims of violent crime (assault, sexual assault, and robbery) by 20,000 people from the October 2023 baseline of 185,000. Since the target was set, the number of victims has varied, including an increase to 215,000 for the year to June 2024. The year to October 2024 data indicates a decrease of 24,000 victims since the year to June 2024.
About the NZCVS
- The NZCVS is an annual national survey about New Zealanders’ experiences of crime that has been running for seven years.
- The NZCVS is the most comprehensive source of data on adult victims of crime in New Zealand.
- Only around a quarter of crime is reported to the Police, so the NZCVS provides a key source of data on the nature and volume of crime.
- There are now seven years of data, representing almost 50,000 interviews since data was first collected in March 2018.
- Over the next few months, the Ministry will be publishing two more NZCVS reports. The Public Perceptions report will be published at the end of April. This will summarise data from a new set of survey questions designed to measure New Zealanders’ levels of trust and confidence in the law and criminal justice system.
- The Key Stories report will provide further analysis and context for some trends in both Key Results and the Public Perceptions report, and will be published at the end of May.
High resolution infographics from the NZCVS are available on request.
NZCVS Cycle 7 resources and results
Public Perceptions report – NZCVS