State and integrated schools removed students from schools 7334 times between 2006 and 2010 for bad behaviour, drug and substance abuse and assaulting other students.
Continual disobedience is the leading reason why young students are excluded, followed by drugs and substance abuse then physical assault on other students.
Drug-related exclusions have risen from 214 five years ago to 290 last year, Education Ministry figures show.
Fourteen-year-olds are the most likely to be excluded, but the NZEI primary teachers' union says it is worrying to see schools excluding students as young as five years for drug-related reasons.
NZEI president Ian Leckie says children often bring what they are exposed to at home into the school grounds.
"The presence of drugs at schools is never going to be acceptable. Two hundred and ninety children aged five to 15 contravened that. It is surprising and it is always surprising and concerning when you see those figures growing," he said.
Avondale College in Auckland removed students most frequently, with 143 exclusions between 2006 and 2010.
The college also expelled at least 29 students, which was more than any other school in the period.
Onehunga High School had 106 exclusions and Massey High School had 103. Both schools are in Auckland.
An exclusion is where a student under the age of sixteen is formally removed from a school, and required to enrol elsewhere. Students can be excluded repeatedly.
It is only lawful to expel those who are 16 or older. There were a total of 872 expulsions in the period.
