SA worst for drug offences

South Australia has by far the worst rate of drug offending in the nation, new figures show.

Offences involving injury, sexual assaults and abduction or harassment also all rose sharply in 2014/15, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says.

South Australia had 1031 drug offenders for every 100,000 people last financial year.

That was well ahead of 656 in Queensland, 639 in the Northern Territory and 317 in Western Australia.

In NSW, the rate of drug offending was 254 for every 100,000 people and in Victoria just 188.

The ABS said drug offences across Australia had increased every year since 2008/09 and rose by 11 per cent last year.

"Two thirds of illicit drug offenders were charged with possession or using illicit drugs and a further 13 per cent for dealing or trafficking," ABS spokesman William Milne said.

The figures also put injury crimes in SA up by 24 per cent to 6999 offenders, sexual assaults up 20 per cent to 885 and abduction or harassment up 31 per cent to 350.

Overall, South Australia recorded a four per cent fall in the total number of offenders in 2014/15 to 47,451.

While offender rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were 10 times higher than for non-indigenous people.