Data collected from Freedom of Information requests relating to more than 40 police forces showed 70,078 arrests of boys and girls aged 17 and under were made in 2018.
This marked a decrease from almost 250,000 arrests made in 2010, according to the Howard League for Penal Reform, which conducted the research.
Over the same period, the number of children in prison fell by 63 per cent, it added.
The research also highlighted a significant year-on-year reduction in the number of arrests of primary school-age children.
In 2018, there were 383 arrests of 10- and 11-year-olds, a drop of 38 per cent from the previous year.
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