About this data

Source: HMPPS Annual Digest; Scottish Government, Scottish prison population statistics; Department of Justice (Northern Ireland), Northern Ireland prison population; ONS, NRS and NISRA mid-year population estimates

• England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each run their own prisons, under different laws and sentencing rules.
• Rates are the average prison population in each financial year per 100,000 people, using mid-year population estimates. Figures for Northern Ireland start in 2015/16. Scotland's and Northern Ireland's figures for 2025/26 had not been published by October 2026.

This chart appears in Prisons.