Crime rates are down compared to five years ago. File photo
Crime rates are down compared to five years ago. File photo
Fewer New Zealanders are experiencing crime compared with five years ago, a national survey has found.
The New Zealand Crime and Safety survey, which takes place every three to five years, estimated that 1.9 million "personal" or "household" crimes occurred in 2013, compared to 2.7 million in 2008.
Personal crimesincluded sexual offences, assault, robbery and threats and household crimes included burglary, theft and damage to property.
Both the number of offences and the number of people who experienced crime decreased compared to the previous survey.
Three-quarters of the 7000 respondents in the survey said they did not experience any crime in 2013, compared to 63 per cent in 2008.
The survey showed Maori and lower-income New Zealanders were more likely to be affected by crime.
The survey is based on responses from randomly selected people aged 15 years and older. It is designed to complement official police statistics, which did not include unreported crime.