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Estimating the Costs of Crime in New Zealand in 2003/04 - WP 06/04

Unit costs by category – private sector and heath sector

Appendix Table 5 shows the average (or unit) cost estimates that have been used in this study for the various cost categories borne by the private sector and also the health service costs borne by the public sector.

Appendix Table 5 – Average costs borne by the private sector and the health sector
Average costs ($) Preventative expenditure Insurance administration Property lost Intangible costs Lost output Total private sector Health sector costs
Violent offences 3 3 0 5,195 1,624 6,820 1,153
– Homicide 349 552 0 2,072,670 1,086,732 3,160,300 1,855
– Grievous assaults 2 2 0 10,971 2,809 13,780 3,247
– Intimidation & threats 2 2 0 10,971 2,809 13,780 3,247
– Kidnapping & abduction 2 2 0 10,971 2,809 13,780 3,247
– Other assaults 2 2 0 1,898 648 2,550 296
 Sexual offences 7 12 0 50,033 9,300 59,350 2,045
– Sexual violation 7 12 0 148,010 24,006 172,040 5,016
– Other 7 12 0 42,030 8,099 50,150 1,802
Robbery 0 51 246 7,343 2,436 10,070 1,164
Burglary 532 426 2,436 1,556 154 5,100 0
Theft 74 105 543 374 16 1,110 0
– Of vehicles 1,472 942 5,608 1,927 113 10,060 0
– From vehicles 279 120 855 641 48 1,940 0
– Other & receiving 0 79 348 284 7 720 0
Property damage 31 87 511 1,137 14 1,780 0
Fraud 0 0 12,352 1,556 0 13,910 0
Drug offences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
– Cannabis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
– Other drugs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Serious traffic offences 897 574 3,417 461,889 239,876 706,650 2,943
– Alcohol/speed with death 1,472 942 5,608 2,072,670 1,086,732 3,167,420 1,855
– Alcohol/speed with injury 736 471 2,804 10,971 2,809 17,790 3,247
All other offences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

As earlier noted, most of the above estimates are based on UK Home Office unit cost data for respective, or similar, crime categories, converted to New Zealand dollars using the OECD’s index of purchasing power parity for GDP for 2004.

There are two main exceptions, however. One is that the unit costs for serious traffic offences, for which the preventative expenditure, insurance administration and property lost cost estimates are linked to the respective estimates for theft of vehicles; and for which the intangible, lost output and health sector cost estimates are linked to the respective estimates for homicide and grievous assaults.

The other main exception is that the unit costs for fraud, for which as earlier stated the intangible cost estimate is linked to the respective estimate for burglary; and for which the property lost cost estimate is based on a 1995 NZIER figure, adjusted to 2003/04 prices by the CPI.

Spreadsheets

All the underlying data (unit costs, volumes, inflators, etc.) and calculations used in this study can be found in the following two spreadsheets, which are available from the authors on request:

  • Spending on Crime by Government Agency 2003-04 (Treasury ref. 758029)
  • Costs of Crime by Crime Category and Sector (Treasury ref. 782088)
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