About this data

Source: HM Treasury, Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA), 2010 to 2026 editions

• Spending on prisons across the UK by central and devolved governments, as classified in PESA (the 'prisons' function of public order and safety). It includes running costs and capital spending.
• Each year comes from the most recent PESA edition that covers it. PESA revises earlier years between editions, and there is likely a break in how spending was classified around 2010/11–2011/12.
• Adjusted for inflation using HM Treasury's GDP deflator (October 2026), in 2025/26 prices.

This chart appears in Prisons.