Increasing police apprehension rates and court actions for car theft are contributing to a decline in the number of vehicles stolen in NSW, a research report has found.

The National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC) says data since 2014 shows the number of alleged offenders who have had legal action commenced against them has increased 57%, while the number of theft incidents has fallen 16%.

Finalised charges for motor vehicle theft in all courts increased 61% over the period, with the local court seeing a 99% jump.

The past decade has also included the introduction of laws to crack down on “car rebirthing”, which involves stripping identifying information from a vehicle to conceal that it’s stolen.

“Overall, the research suggests that the considerable decline in theft numbers in NSW may in part be due to increases in police apprehension rates and court proceedings across the spectrum of motor vehicle theft offending,” NMVTRC says.

“It also points to the introduction of specific rebirthing legislation in the state in 2006 as a likely contributor to increased guilty charges in the higher courts.”

NSW car theft has declined by around 41% over the past decade to 12,596 incidents last financial year.