Canterbury had the country’s largest increase in estimated violent crime victims in the latest New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey.

The Ministry of Justice figures estimated 23,000 Canterbury adults experienced violent offending in the 12 months to February 2026.

That was an increase of about 4,000 victims, or 19 percent, from the estimate of 19,000 in the 12 months to October 2025.

Canterbury recorded a larger increase than Waikato and the combined smaller regions covered by the survey. Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Wellington recorded decreases.

Despite the latest rise, Canterbury’s estimate remained below the October 2023 baseline of 25,000 victims.

Nationally, the survey estimated 139,000 people experienced violent crime in the 12 months to February, up 3,000 from the previous estimate.

The national figure remained 46,000 lower than the October 2023 baseline of 185,000 and was 26,000 below the Government’s target of 165,000 victims.

The Ministry of Justice factsheet said the latest national increase was driven by violence committed by someone who was not related to the victim.

There were an estimated 114,000 victims of that type of violence, up 9,000 from October 2025.

The estimated number of family violence victims fell by 6,000 to 29,000 over the same period.

Sexual assault victims increased by an estimated 1,400 to 73,000, while victims of physical assault and robbery increased by about 3,000 to 77,000.

However, both figures remained below their October 2023 levels.

The survey measures reported and unreported offending, including sexual assault, physical assault and robbery.

The figures are estimates rather than police recorded crime statistics and carry margins of error.

The Canterbury estimate for February ranged from 14,000 to 32,000 victims at the 95 percent confidence level. The October estimate ranged from 12,000 to 26,000.

Superintendent Tony Hill, Canterbury District Commander said “police can not speak directly to the data of other agencies.

“We also note that this data is current from February 2026 and was published some months ago.

“From Police’s own data there is very little change in the number of reported violent crimes in the last 12 months, with the Canterbury Metro area seeing a slight decrease.”