6. Individuals Experiencing Imprisonment

[Supplementary tables B2 and M1]

The number of individuals[1] who spent any time in prison remained at a very similar level in 2022-23 compared to 2021-22, increasing by only 1% from 14,413 to 14,528 (see Figure 16).  Prior to the pandemic there was a long term downward trend in the numbers of individuals experiencing imprisonment year-on-year.  During 2020-21 there was a sharper decrease in the number of individuals.  The last two reporting years have seen a small rise, but the number of individuals recorded in 2022-23 remains considerably below pre-pandemic levels.  These patterns likely reflect the impacts of the pandemic on justice system operations, as discussed in section 1.1.

Note that the measure of individuals differs from the average daily population measures discussed in previous chapters.  Here, each individual is given equal weight regardless of how long they spent in prison.

Figure 16: Unique individuals spending any time in prison, 2009-10 to 2022-23

Figure 16 shows that there was overall stability in the number of individuals experiencing imprisonment between 2021-22 and 2022-23, a pattern that holds when looking at the legal status breakdown of individuals experiencing custody[2]. 

Note that an individual can have more than one legal status type each year and is counted for each status held.  This means that the total number of individuals across the legal status types will be more than the total number of individuals held in custody in each year.

The rest of this section examines the characteristics of individuals experiencing imprisonment.

6.1 Gender

[Supplementary tables B2 and M1]

While there were small increases in 2022-23, the numbers of men and women spending any time in prison were similar to those recorded in 2021-22.  In 2022-23, 13,666 men (+113) experienced imprisonment, as did 860 women (+4).

The number of women who spent any time in prison over the course of the year has halved over the past decade, from 1,622 in 2012-13 to 860 in 2022-23.  Over the same period the number of men spending any time in prison fell by 25%, from 18,299 to 13,666.

As in 2021-22, women made up just 6% of individuals experiencing imprisonment in 2022-23. 

Breaking down the number of individuals by legal status reveals different patterns for men and women.  The breakdown by legal status for men broadly follows the overall pattern displayed in figure 16.  

For women, the numbers experiencing imprisonment as convicted awaiting sentence and sentenced fell between 2021-22 and 2022-23 (by -5% to 252 and -4% to 442, respectively), and the number of women experiencing imprisonment as untried increased by 9% (from 432 in 2021-22 to 470 in 2022-23).

6.2 Age

[Supplementary tables B2 and M1]

Over the longer term (from 2009-10), there has been a reduction in the number of young people and younger adults (those under 30 years) experiencing imprisonment, but broad stability or increases in the number of those in the older adult age bands (30 years+).  The highest proportionate increases have occurred amongst adults aged 50 years or over.

In line with this longer term trend, the increase in the number of individuals experiencing imprisonment in 2022-23 is driven almost entirely by increases in the number of older adults (those aged 35+).  Figure 17 shows that this pattern holds across the legal statuses, and is most pronounced in the larger categories of ‘untried’ and ‘sentenced’. 

Figure 17: Change in number of individuals experiencing imprisonment by legal status and age, 2021-22 to 2022-23

The previously reported trend[3] of an aging group of people experiencing imprisonment continued in 2022-23.  The average age of individuals spending any time in prison in 2012-13 was 32.7 years; by 2022-23 this had risen to 37.4.  The proportion of individuals experiencing imprisonment that were aged 50 years or older has almost doubled in ten years, rising from 7.7% in 2012-13 to 14.8% in 2022-23.

6.3 Ethnicity

[Supplementary tables B3]

The majority of individuals experiencing imprisonment in 2022-23 identified as White (94%)[4]. 

Reflecting the overall pattern of individuals experiencing imprisonment, there were small increases in the number of individuals experiencing imprisonment across ethnic groups between 2021-22 and 2022-23: White (+41 to 13,617); Asian(+26 to 325); Other ethnic group (+35 to 231); African, Caribbean or Black (+15 to 274); Mixed or Multiple (+1 to 79).  Overall there was little change to the proportion of individuals each ethnic group represented between 2021-22 and 2022-23. 

In 2022-23, the rate of imprisonment for the White, Asian, and Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups remained similar to the previous reporting year (3.2, 2.6 and 4.5 per 1,000 respectively).  The imprisonment rates remained higher for the African, Caribbean and Black and Other Ethnic groups, and showed an increase from the rates seen in 2021-22 (from 8.3 to 8.7 and from 7.3 to 8.5 per 1,000 respectively)[5].

Ethnic groupings have been aggregated in this report, which is likely to mask variations within each group.  Disaggregation of prisoner ethnicity data is currently being pursued for future analyses.

6.4 Other individual level characteristics

Statistics on other available protected characteristics (disability, sexual orientation, and marital status) and armed forces history are provided in the Supplementary Tables B4-7 accompanying this publication.