The proportion has increased in the past three years
Despite being just 44% of New Zealand adults convicted last year, Māori convicts accounted for 58% of adults who were sentenced to prison terms, according to data from Statistics New Zealand.
Of the 58,849 adults convicted last year of an offence, 26,794 are of Māori ethnicity, 23,450 are European, and 5,881 are Pacific.
The proportion has increased in the past three years, up from 56.7% in 2015, according to the Law Society.
Only 16% of the nation’s population identify as being of Māori ethnicity. Around 73% identify as European or other ethnicity, while 15% identify as Asian and 8% as Pacific.
The data showed that adults of European ethnicity accounted for 40% of those convicted and 31% of those sentenced to prison last year. Adults who are of Pacific ethnicity made up 10% of those convicted and 7.5% of those sentenced to imprisonment.
Of the 12,466 total women convicted last year, 6,816 are of Māori ethnicity, 4,513 are European, and 872 are Pacific. Māori accounted for 54.7% of all women convicted, and 67.3% of all women sentenced to prison. Women of European ethnicity made up 36.2% of those convicted and 27.7% of those sentenced to prison. Women of Pacific ethnicity accounted for 7% of those convicted and 2.7% of those sentenced to imprisonment.
There were 46,383 adult men convicted last year, of which 19,978 are of Māori ethnicity, 18,937 European, and 5,009 Pacific. Māori men accounted for 43.1% of those convicted and 57.2% of those sentenced to prison. The data showed that 40.8% of all men convicted and 31.1% of those sentenced to imprisonment were of European ethnicity. Men of Pacific ethnicity accounted for 10.8% of those convicted and 8% of those sentenced to jail.
