  We present the first detailed analysis of three extragalactic fields (IRAC
Dark Field, ELAIS-N1, ADF-S) observed by the infrared satellite, AKARI, using
an optimised data analysis toolkit specifically for the processing of
extragalactic point sources. The InfraRed Camera (IRC) on AKARI complements the
Spitzer space telescope via its comprehensive coverage between 8-24 microns
filling the gap between the Spitzer IRAC and MIPS instruments. Source counts in
the AKARI bands at 3.2, 4.1, 7, 11, 15 and 18 microns are presented. At
near-infrared wavelengths, our source counts are consistent with counts made in
other AKARI fields and in general with Spitzer/IRAC (except at 3.2 microns
where our counts lie above). In the mid-infrared (11 - 18 microns) we find our
counts are consistent with both previous surveys by AKARI and the Spitzer
peak-up imaging survey with the InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS). Using our counts
to constrain contemporary evolutionary models we find that although the models
and counts are in agreement at mid-infrared wavelengths there are
inconsistencies at wavelengths shortward of 7 microns, suggesting either a
problem with stellar subtraction or indicating the need for refinement of the
stellar population models. We have also investigated the AKARI/IRC filters, and
find an AGN selection criteria out to $z<2$ on the basis of AKARI 4.1, 11, 15
and 18 microns colours.
