Australia’s car theft rates have continued to fall, with annual statistics showing a 7% drop for 2006. A total of 63,996 passenger and light commercial vehicles were stolen last year – 5000 fewer than in 2005.

The National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council says the decline shows reforms over the past few years are having a good effect.

The recovery rate for stolen vehicles was stable at 77%. Rates of theft relative to the population and number of vehicle registrations were steady last year.

But it’s not all good news – car thieves seem to have developed a taste for more expensive vehicles. The total value of stolen vehicles rose to $127 million over the last quarter of the year, and unrecovered losses rose $3 million to $41 million. This jump defies a longer-term trend that shows the value of stolen vehicles dropping in average and absolute terms.

Motorcycle theft dropped 4% over the year, with 6570 incidents reported.