Ministry of Justice · Offender management statistics quarterly: prison population · 9 values
Prison population by age band
The prison population of England and Wales at the end of each quarter, split by age band.
at June 2026 · total 85,858 people · published 30 July 2026
| Age band | Latest | Share | A year earlier | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 to 39 | 27,928 | 32.5% | 28,955 | ▼ 3.5% |
| 40 to 49 | 19,296 | 22.5% | 18,741 | ▲ 3% |
| 25 to 29 | 11,888 | 13.8% | 12,548 | ▼ 5.3% |
| 50 to 59 | 9,250 | 10.8% | 9,368 | ▼ 1.3% |
| 21 to 24 | 7,552 | 8.8% | 7,871 | ▼ 4.1% |
| 60 to 69 | 4,737 | 5.5% | 4,456 | ▲ 6.3% |
| 18 to 20 | 2,790 | 3.2% | 3,070 | ▼ 9.1% |
| 70 and over | 2,197 | 2.6% | 2,070 | ▲ 6.1% |
| 15 to 17 | 220 | 0.3% | 255 | ▼ 13.7% |
Source
- Dataset
- Offender management statistics quarterly: prison population · sheet Table_1_Q_6
- Rows
- Sex=Male and female; Custody type group=All custody types; Age band=All ages; values are the sum of the published rows for each age band and period.
- Caveat
- Age at sentencing or at reception; ages are as at the snapshot date.
- Parent metric
- Prison population
- API
- /api/metrics/prison_population_by_age/vintages