Youth Offending is down 22%

The 22% figure reflects a narrow, Cabinet-set baseline metric adopted in June 2023. Serious, repeat youth offenders only, not "all youth crime". Covering just 1,083 of such offenders (Oranga Tamariki figures put the June 2023 baseline at 1,100, falling to 856 by the December 2025 quarter, beating the Government's 15%-by-2030 target years early).

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, and Children's Minister Karen Chhour, credited the coalition's law-and-order approach for the drop at a joint February 2026 announcement alongside other crime figures. The Ministry of Justice and Oranga Tamariki have both said actual, broader youth crime rates are higher than this narrow metric suggests, while also having declined steadily over the last 16 years.