This report highlights the main findings from Cycle 5 of the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS) conducted between November 2021 and November 2022. It compares the
findings from Cycle 5 data with those from Cycle 4 (November 2020 to November 2021) and Cycle 1 (2018 – the baseline year).4 It also comments on key statistical trends.
The NZCVS is the most comprehensive source of data on adult victims of crime5 in Aotearoa New Zealand. In New Zealand, only about a quarter of crime is reported to the Police; so the NZCVS gives us more accurate data on the nature and volume of crime.

The survey also provides rich information about people who experience crime and how patterns of victimisation in New Zealand vary by region and demography.

The NZCVS covers household offences (burglary, theft and property damage, and trespass) and personal offences (fraud and deception, cybercrime, sexual assault, harassment and
threatening behaviour, assault, robbery, and theft and damage). The survey does not cover crime against businesses including ramraids. If, however an individual experienced
interpersonal violence in their place of work this would still be covered by the survey. The NZCVS also does not cover homicide (due to very low volumes), “victimless” crime (such as drug use), and traffic offences.

The Covid-19 pandemic impacted the number of people who responded to the survey. We usually sample 8,000 New Zealanders and achieve a response rate of 80%. In Cycle 5, we interviewed 5,326 New Zealanders and had a response rate of 71%. This declining response rate is a trend consistent across all New Zealand agencies who conduct surveys.
Despite this, our overall response rate is still good and allows us to produce high quality estimates for most offence types. Unfortunately, it has affected our ability to report data on
some of the less common offence types. Where this is the case, we have used data from all five cycles to improve coverage of these offence types.

Since it was established in 2017, the NZCVS has significantly increased what we know and understand about crime and victimisation. Many government agencies and non-governmental organisations use it to help them develop their policies and interventions.

All four NZCVS cycles have used consistent methodology, so we can now compare five years of data, which represents almost 35,000 interviews with New Zealanders about their
experiences of crime. This means we can accurately analyse changes to the levels of crime and victimisation since we started collecting NZCVS data in March 2018. See Section 1 for more information about the NZCVS. (Executive summary).

Use the Resources and results link to access all documents related to Cycle 5 and all previous Cycles. Record #8261