Ministry of Justice figures for the past nine years tell us that the number of convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs has declined from 16,647 (2016) to 15,048 (2025), a decline of 9.6% [1].
“Younger New Zealanders saw the biggest drop in driving under the influence convictions [2] over the past nine years, with convictions down 52% for those aged 19 and under, 38% for 20–24-year-olds, and 20% for those aged 25–29”, said NZABC Executive Director Virginia Nicholls.
By contrast, convictions rose among those aged 30–39 and over 55, while rates were broadly unchanged among people aged 40–54.
Nearly four out of five men (78%) [3] are convicted of driving under the influence (alcohol and/or drugs), and one out of five women.
According to an NZABC commissioned survey [4] there is continued support for confiscating cars from repeat drink drivers, targeted support programmes for harmful drinkers, alcohol education in schools, heavier fines for drunk and disorderly behaviour and using alcohol interlocks in cars to reduce drink driving:
- Confiscating cars from repeat drink drivers +74% (2019: 80%)
- Targeted support programmes for harmful drinkers +73% (2019: 78%)
- Alcohol education programmes in schools +67% (2019: 72%)
- Heavier fines for drunk and disorderly behaviour +63% (2019: 56%)
- Use alcohol interlocks in cars to reduce drink driving +49% (2021: 54%)
- Allow Police to issue spot fines for minor alcohol related offences +45% (2019: 36%)
- Alcohol education programmes in workplaces +42% (2022: 54%)
Alcohol interlock technology [5] has been used by the NZ courts since July 2018 for repeat offences and first offences with very high breath or blood alcohol readings. The interlock prevents a vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected on the drivers breath.
The number of people receiving an alcohol interlock order [6] has risen 6.9% since 2019, from 3,526 to 3,770 in 2025.
“Minister Chris Bishop [7] also highlighted the effectiveness of alcohol interlocks, citing research showing offenders fitted with the devices are less likely to reoffend and more likely to remain employed”.
“There is no doubt we are drinking in moderation, drinking as part of a balanced lifestyle and focusing on well-being and wellness”, said Virginia.
“Most of us agree that targeted education and support programmes create a better understanding of responsible drinking – a fact borne out by the fact that 64% of the New Zealanders surveyed agreed that such programmes reduce alcohol-related harm”, said Virginia.
Since 2019, “Smashed” a theatre-based education programme on reducing alcohol harm has been funded through a charity supported by beer, wine and spirits and delivered by the Life Education Trust each year to over 18,000 secondary students. This provides practical information and advice to support better decision making.
Independent research [8] showed the programme was supporting positive changes to youth drinking culture.
The NZ Health survey [9] consistently shows that five out of six adults drink in a responsible way, and there has been an across-the-board decline in different measures of riskier drinking as compared to 2016/17.
Fewer under-18s are drinking alcohol and those who do are drinking less hazardously.
According to Stats NZ [10] our beer, wine and spirits consumption per head of population is at an all-time low declining by more than 30% since 1986.
References:
[1] Table 1: NZ Ministry of Justice driving under the influence: The number of finalised charges for driving under the influence/alcohol and or drugs offences, 2016 – 2025, a decline of 9.6%: Data tables | New Zealand Ministry of Justice, accessed 26 May 2026
| Table 1: NZ total driving under the influence | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Convicted (table 1) | 16,647 | 16,858 | 17,265 | 16,952 | 14,182 | 14,636 | 15,849 | 16,579 | 16,250 | 15,048 |
| Number of people who received an alcohol interlock order (table 7a) | 342 | 329 | 1,677 | 3,526 | 3,037 | 3,455 | 3,687 | 3,761 | 3,827 | 3,770 |
[2] Table 5: NZ Ministry of Justice number and percentage of people convicted of driving under influence offences, by gender, ethnicity and age group 2016 – 2025.
This data counts a person once per calendar year. All of their charges have the same recorded gender and ethnicity information. Age in this table is the person’s age at the offence date of their most serious driving under the influence conviction.
‘Multiple ethnicity’ information is used in this table. This means for each ethnicity a person is counted once per year (e.g. they may be counted in both European and Māori). As some people have multiple recorded ethnicities this will result in the sum of ethnicities being greater than the total number of people each year.
Ministry of Justice (NZ): driving under the influence, 2016 – 2025: Data tables | New Zealand Ministry of Justice, accessed 26 May 2026
| Number of people convicted | Percentage of total | Percentage increase/decrease | |||
| 2016 | 2025 | 2016 | 2025 | ||
| Total | 15,999 | 14,200 | 100% | 100% | |
| Gender | |||||
| Female | 3,725 | 3,127 | 23% | 22% | |
| Male | 12,254 | 11,055 | 77% | 78% | |
| Unknown | 20 | 18 | <1% | <1% | |
| Ethnicity | |||||
| European | 7,043 | 5,046 | 44% | 36% | |
| Māori | 5,502 | 4,168 | 34% | 29% | |
| Pacific Peoples | 1,613 | 1,209 | 10% | 9% | |
| Asian | 856 | 781 | 5% | 6% | |
| Other | 359 | 256 | 2% | 2% | |
| Unknown | 1,370 | 3,171 | 9% | 22% | |
| Age group (years) | |||||
| 19 years and under | 1,912 | 923 | 12% | 7% | Decrease 51.7% |
| 20-24 | 3,399 | 2,121 | 21% | 15% | Decrease 37.6% |
| 25-29 | 2,833 | 2,253 | 18% | 16% | Decrease 20.5% |
| 30-34 | 1,915 | 2,114 | 12% | 15% | Increase 9.4% |
| 35-39 | 1,400 | 1,773 | 9% | 12% | Increase 26.6% |
| 40-44 | 1,297 | 1,318 | 8% | 9% | Same (up by 1.6%) |
| 45-49 | 1,076 | 960 | 7% | 7% | Decrease 10.8% |
| 50-54 | 932 | 933 | 6% | 7% | Same (0.1% decrease) |
| 55-59 | 563 | 762 | 4% | 5% | Increase 35.6% |
| 60-64 | 343 | 551 | 2% | 4% | Increase 60% |
| 65 years and over | 323 | 490 | 2% | 3% | |
| Unknown | 6 | 2 | <1% | <1% | |
[3] Table 5: number and percentage of people convicted of driving under the influence offences, by gender, ethnicity and age group (2025): female (3127 – 22%), male (11,055 – 78%)
[4] Curia market research October 2025, harm reduction measures net support, 1000 adult respondents
[5] Ministry of Justice, 2025: alcohol interlock orders became mandatory (with some exceptions) in July 2018 for repeat offences and first offences with very high breath or blood alcohol readings, under s 65A of the Land Transport Act 1998: Land Transport Act 1998 | New Zealand Legislation
[6] Table 1: NZ Ministry of Justice driving under the influence: The number of people who received an alcohol interlock order from 2019 – 2025. 3,526 (2019) – 3,770 (2025), an increase of 6.9%: Data tables | New Zealand Ministry of Justice, accessed 26 May 2026
[7] Fuel shock driving behaviour shifts, Transport Minister says: Fuel shock driving behaviour shifts, Transport Minister says – TRANSPORTtalk: Truck and Industry Equipment News, 28 March 2026
[8] Smashed “showed us ways to deal with peer pressure,” NZCER, September 2022
[9] In the NZ Health survey (Nov 2025) five out of six New Zealanders (83.4%) drink beer, wine and spirits responsibly, and there has been an across-the-board decline in different measures of riskier drinking as compared to 2016/17. Annual Update of Key Results 2024/25: New Zealand Health Survey | Ministry of Health NZ accessed 19 November 2025. There were 9,253 adult sample size.
[10] Stats NZ: Total NZ population 18 years and over alcohol available for consumption (per head of population). Year end 1986 (11.599 litres), year end March 2026 (7.618 litres): View table – Infoshare – Statistics New Zealand accessed 27 May 2026.