Prisoners: prison population

 

Scotland has one of the highest imprisonment rates in Western Europe (138 per 100,000 population in April 2023) (World Prison Brief), although the prison population remains lower than pre-pandemic levels. As at the 1st April 2023, the average daily prison population in Scotland was 7,507. This has been relatively stable post-pandemic at between 7,300 and 7,600. (Scottish Prison Population Statistics)

A total of 46,497 people underwent court proceedings in 2020-21, with 42,532 (91%) convicted of at least one charge. Although numbers have been reducing steadily since 2014-15 and experienced a steep decrease over 2019-20 figures (by 46% and 44% respectively) due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the conviction rate has remained relatively stable over the past 10 years.

7,224 (17%) convictions in 2020-21 resulted in a custodial sentence, three quarters of which were for less than 12 months (Criminal Proceedings in Scotland: 2020-2021).

The reconviction rate, which is the percentage of offenders who reoffend within a year, was 28% in 2018-19. Figures for 2019-20 remain unpublished and under review due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but are expected to drop substantially reflecting the drop in court proceedings experienced during this period (Reconviction rates in Scotland statistics). 

The number of people in prison on remand remains at a historic high. As at 1st April 2023 it was 28% of the prison population, 24% awaiting trial and 4% convicted and awaiting sentence, with the median continuous time spent on remand being 72 days.

The majority of the prison population identify as white (94%), single (78%), heterosexual (92%), males (96%) (SPS Public Information Page (PIP) Quarter 3 2022/2023)

Women continue to represent 4% of the prison population. The average daily population of women in prison continued to fall in 2021/22, driven by a reduction in the number of women being sentenced. This resulted in an increase in the proportion on remand (to 30%) despite numbers on remand remaining stable. More recent weekly population figures as at 7th April 2023 indicate roughly 36% of women in prison were on remand.

The average age of people in prison in 2021/22 was 36.9 years. The proportion aged 55 years or older was 8.1%: this has more than doubled over the past 10 years.

Young people (under 21 years old) represented less than 3% of the total prison population in 2021/22, and the average daily numbers in prison fell to 193, driven by a reduction in both sentenced and tried populations. Weekly population figures as at 7th April 2023 indicate 148 people under 21 years were in prison. (Scottish Government Prison Population Statistics) (SPS Prison Population)

10% of the prison population in the quarter Oct-Dec 2022 reported a disability to the Scottish Prison Service (SPS Public Information Page (PIP) Quarter 3 2022/2023)

As at April 2023, Scotland's incarceration rate per 100,000 population is 138 which is slightly lower than in England and Wales (141) but substantially higher than most European Union countries, for example, France (106) and the Netherlands (66). It is also lower than the Baltic states of Estonia (153), Latvia (169), and Lithuania (177); and considerably lower than the US (531), and the Russian Federation (300). (World Prison Brief

 

Please note: If you require the most up-to-date data available, please check the data sources directly as new data may have been published since these data pages were last updated. Although we endeavour to ensure that the data pages are kept up-to-date, there may be a time lag between new data being published and the relevant ScotPHO web pages being updated.