The Police Minister is confident a fall in retail crime in central Auckland will make it a thriving hub again

Police data show a 22 percent reduction in serious assaults in the CBD in the first seven months of this year, compared to the same time last year.

Mark Mitchell says despite this, there is still a lot of work to do to.

He says they want to continue driving Auckland towards being one of the world's safest cities.

Mr Mitchell says it's often the first place overseas visitors touch when they arrive in New Zealand, and they also want to continue bringing locals back to the city.