17% of adults and 24% of youths reoffended within a year

Date published: 16 October 2025

New official statistics published today by NISRA statisticians in the Department of Justice present information on the one year proven reoffending rate for offenders who received a non-custodial disposal at court, a diversionary disposal or who were released from custody during 2022/23 within Northern Ireland.

Key findings:

• Of the 20,373 people included in the 2022/23 cohort, 3,591 (17.6%) reoffended during the one year observational period (adults 17.3%, youths 24.1%).
• The cohort was made up of 19,455 adults (95.5%) and 918 young people (4.5%). Of the adults within the cohort, 17.3% reoffended. The corresponding figure for young people was 24.1%.
• Of the 3,591 who reoffended, almost half (46.2%) committed their first reoffence within the first three months (adults 46.1%, youths 48.0%).
• In terms of offending history, 63.7% of the cohort had committed previous offences, ranging from one to 455 distinct offences, (adults 65.4%, youths 27.2%).
• Overall, 13.4% of females and 18.7% of males had reoffended (adult females 13.1% and adult males 18.4%, youth females 19.5% and youth males 25.4%).

About the publication

Presents information on reoffending rates for people released from custody or young offender centre, people given a non-custodial disposal at court and people given a diversionary disposal (e.g. caution or informed warning).

Further information

View the report and data tables: Adult and youth reoffending in Northern Ireland 2022-23 cohort