Prison population in Northern Ireland rises to an average of 1,911 in 2024/25

Date published: 23 October 2025

New accredited official statistics published today by NISRA statisticians in the Department of Justice present the Northern Ireland Prison Population for the 2024/25 financial year.

Key Findings

• Overall prison population increased by 1.8% to an average of 1,911 prisoners daily during 2024/25, up from 1,877 in 2023/24 – the highest level in the past decade.
• Immediate custody population rose by 2.5% to 1,205, representing 63.1% of the overall population and the highest figure since reporting began in 2015/16.
• Remand population increased by 1.3% to 695, marking the seventh consecutive year of increase and the highest level over the past ten years.
• Female prison population grew, increasing by 20.0% (from 90 to 108) and now represents 5.7% of the total population – the highest proportion in the reporting period.
• Prison receptions increased by 1.6% to 4,228 during 2024/25, the highest number over the ten-year period. Remand receptions rose by 3.5% to 3,381, accounting for 80.0% of all new receptions.
• Prisoners aged 30-39 years comprised the largest proportion of both immediate custody (38.0%) and remand (37.6%) populations.
• Violence Against the Person offences continued to account for the largest proportion of principal offences for both immediate custody (35.4%) and remand (37.7%) populations.
• Sentence lengths showed a shift, with custodial sentences of one year or less decreasing to 25.7% of the population (from 27.7% in 2023/24), whilst sentences of 1-5 years increased.
• Discharges increased marginally by 0.8% to 4,137, with nine deaths in custody recorded during the year.
• Religious affiliation: Those identifying as Catholic represented 50.0% of the average daily prison population, whilst Protestant and Other Christians accounted for 32.2%.

About the Publication

The full report is an annual Accredited Official Statistics publication produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. It presents comprehensive data on Northern Ireland's prison population, including:

• Average daily prison population breakdowns by establishment, custody type, gender, age, sentence length, principal offence and religion
• Prison receptions and discharges analysis
• Custody type changes throughout the year
• Ten-year trend data (2015/16 to 2024/25)
• International comparisons with other European jurisdictions
• Deaths in custody information
• Detailed methodology and data quality information

Further information

The data is derived from the Northern Ireland Prison Service Management Information System (PRISM) and covers the financial year from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

Read the full report: Northern Ireland Prison Population 2024/25