Nearly a quarter of all young people who were given court orders received adult sentences in the last year.

Statistics from the Ministry of Justice released on Tuesday for the year ending June 2023, show that 23 per cent of youth who were given orders faced imprisonment or home detention.

The majority of them were 17-year-olds, it found.

Figures also showed that 27 per cent of young people with orders had robbery as their most serious offence.

There were a total of 1545 youth aged 10 to 17-years-old who went through the court system - 15 per cent more than the previous period.

Of those, more than 980 of them were Māori. That was 15 per cent more than the previous period.

However, the figures were still less than those in the 2017 and 2018 period where there were nearly 1800 youth who went through the court system.

Other outcomes for youth included discharge or admonishment, supervision or community work, supervision with residence in a youth justice facility, monetary penalty, confiscation or disqualification, supervision with activity or education or rehabilitation programmes.

Figures in the Ministry of Justice report only included charges that have reached a conclusion in court, whether through a conviction and sentencing or if it is withdrawn.

Charge that are still active in the system are not included.

-RNZ.