Charges for driving under the influence offences in New Zealand
By justice service area, year ended June 2025, number of charges
| Justice service area | Number of charges |
|---|---|
| Taitokerau | 952 |
| Waitematā | 1,518 |
| Auckland | 1,754 |
| South Auckland | 2,209 |
| Waikato | 1,497 |
| Bay of Plenty | 1,228 |
| Waiariki | 903 |
| East Coast | 1,410 |
| Taranaki/Whanganui | 693 |
| Manawatū/Wairarapa | 739 |
| Northern Wellington | 970 |
| Wellington | 361 |
| Nelson/Marlborough/West Coast | 739 |
| Canterbury | 1,681 |
| Otago | 699 |
| Southland | 724 |
Definitions
'Driving under the influence' offences include driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
For more information
Inclusions
The number of people charged and convicted of driving under the influence in this dataset will differ from that available in the 'Adults prosecuted in court - most serious offence' and 'Adults convicted in court by sentence type - most serious offence' tables on Stats NZ in the NZ.Stat tool. This dataset counts the total number of people charged and the total number of people convicted for a driving under the influence offence in a year, whereas the NZ.Stat tables show a person's most serious offence in a year (which may be for an offence other than driving under the influence). Additionally, this data counts all people, whereas the NZ.Stat tables display data separately for children and young people and for adults.
Exclusions
This data counts people charged in court. It does not include instances (since 1 December 2014) where a person received an infringement notice for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Changes to data collection/processing
From 29 April 2016, the Ministry of Justice sources courts data from the new Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW), rather than the justice sector data warehouse (ISIS) used over recent years. Changes in data processing may cause small differences if compared current output with similar results produced before 29 April 2016.
Prior to March 2017 these statistics were published as 'drink driving' offences, which excluded offences for 'driving causing death'.
Data provided by
Dataset name
Justice Statistics: Driving under the influence 2025
Webpage:
https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/research-data/justice-statistics/data-tables/
How to find the data
At URL provided, under the heading Justice Services, download 'View or download the driving under the influence data tables' file.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Justice Statistics: Driving under the influence 2025
From the dataset Justice Statistics: Driving under the influence 2025, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: 1.Charges by court & outcome
- Range:
D7:M378 - Provided: 3,700 data points
This data forms the table Justice - Charges for driving under the influence offences, by court and charge outcome 2016–2025.
Dataset originally released on:
September 16, 2025
About this dataset
The Justice Statistics data tables contain details on people going through the courts or accessing justice services (including children, young people, and adults).
Method of collection/Data provider
Gender, ethnic group and age information originates from the New Zealand Police.