At least 1000 extra prisoners will gain skills and work experience under a new strategy by the Department of Corrections, Corrections Minister Judith Collins said.

The Prisoner Skills and Employment Strategy, launched today, aims to reduce reoffending by giving prisoners the skills to gain employment when they are released from custody.

"One of the more disturbing statistics to come out of our corrections system is the alarming rate of recidivism," Ms Collins said.

"Approximately 43 percent of prisoners - and 65 percent of prisoners under 20 - reoffend within a year of their release. Within four years approximately 70 percent of released prisoners will have reoffended.

"For many prisoners, reoffending is perhaps less a matter of choice than the result of them being poorly equipped to lead a law-abiding and productive life.

"This government's promise was to boost the number of prisoners learning industry based skills by 1000 prisoners by 2011. This strategy is an important step towards that goal."

Of the extra prisoners gaining skills and work experience, most (77 percent) will be within Corrections Inmate Employment Industries and unit based employment, while 19 percent will be through trade and technical training delivered by institutes of Technology and Polytechnics. Around 5 percent of the extra training will be through literacy and numeracy courses.

It is estimated that the strategy will result in 165 prison beds saved per year - a saving of approximately $14.8 million annually.

"We have one of the highest rates of imprisonment in the world, which is a trend that cannot continue. The social and economic costs to the country are immense," Ms Collins said.

"Fewer offenders committing crime after completing their sentence will mean fewer victims, a reduction in the cost of crime and safer communities.

"When we release people from prison, we don't want to see them back."