The number of children and young people appearing in New Zealand's courts has shown a big drop over the past sevens, according to information released by Justice Minister Amy Adams.

Ms Adams says 4998 children and young people (10 to 16 years old) appeared in youth courts in the year to 30 June 2008.

By the year to 30 June 2015, this had dropped to 1959. This is a drop of 60.1% over the period.

Ms Adams says the vast majority of children and young people who are stopped by Police are supported by Youth Aid officers, Family Group Conferences and other means designed to prevent them from offending again.

She says the Youth Crime Action Plan underpins a concerted effort to address offending by children and young people.

"The Plan is a 10 year strategy to 2023, to reduce crime committed by young people and help those who do offend to turn their lives around," Ms Adams says.