Northern Ireland Office

The Northern Ireland Office today released Research and Statistical Bulletin 2/2006 entitled ‘The Northern Ireland Prison Population in 2005’.

Research and Statistical Bulletin 2/2006, ‘The Northern Ireland Prison Population in 2005’, which is a National Statistics publication, provides statistics on the size and composition of the prison population in Northern Ireland between 1996 and 2005. The Bulletin describes the average population held and all receptions of prisoners into institutions during these years.

The Northern Ireland Prison Population in 2005: Key Findings

• The overall annual average prison population in Northern Ireland increased by 2% from an average of 1,274 in 2004 to an average of 1,301 in 2005 (Table 1).
• The total number of receptions into prison increased by 8% from 5,455 in 2004 to 5,912 in 2005 (Table 7).  
• The overall prison population was predominantly male (98% in 2005) (Table 1).  Males also made up 94% of all receptions into prison during 2005 (Table 7).
• In 2005, 49% of the average immediate custody prison population were between the ages of 17 and 29 at the time of reception (Table 4), while 54% of all immediate custody prison receptions in 2005 were between the ages of 17 and 29 (Table 10).
• In 2005, 65% of the immediate custody prisoner population were serving sentences for violent offences (violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery).  Eight percent were serving sentences for motoring offences, 7% for drug offences and 5% for ‘other offences’ (Figure 3).
• Prisoners with sentences of greater than one year but less than or equal to five years formed 40% of the immediate custody population in 2005; those sentenced to more than five years but less than life made up 27%; those with sentences of one year and under formed 17%.  Life sentence prisoners made up 16% of the average immediate custody population in 2005 (Figure 4).
• Northern Ireland had a rate of 72 prisoners per 100,000 population in 2005 compared to 142 in England & Wales and 132 in Scotland.  The Republic of Ireland had a rate of 85 prisoners per 100,000 population. The USA had the highest rate of imprisonment in the world, 714 prisoners per 100,000 population, followed by the Russian Federation and Belarus on 532.

Further information can be obtained from

NIO Statistics and Research Branch,
Massey House,
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3SX
(Telephone 028 9052 7534).

Press queries should be directed to the NIO Press Office on telephone number 028 9052 8147

Notes to Editors

National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference. They are also subject to restrictions in terms of pre-release access.