Civometry

Average custodial sentence length (indictable offences): record highs and lows

The extremes of average custodial sentence length (indictable offences) as published by Ministry of Justice, across the 11 periods held here (Year ending March 2016 to Year ending March 2026). Each record is a published figure, not a computed one, and the scope is this series — not “ever”.

Highest published

24Year ending March 2022

Lowest published

19Year ending March 2016

The full series

Average custodial sentence length (indictable offences): Year ending March 2016 to Year ending March 2026ConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabourLabour01020201620182020202220242026Year ending March 2016: 19 months · published 30 July 2026Year ending March 2017: 20 months · published 30 July 2026Year ending March 2018: 21 months · published 30 July 2026Year ending March 2019: 21 months · published 30 July 2026Year ending March 2020: 21 months · published 30 July 2026Year ending March 2021: 19 months · published 30 July 2026Year ending March 2022: 24 months · published 30 July 2026Year ending March 2023: 23 months · published 30 July 2026Year ending March 2024: 23 months · published 30 July 2026Year ending March 2025: 22 months · published 30 July 2026Year ending March 2026: 22 months · published 30 July 2026
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

What a record here is, and is not

A record is the extreme of the periods this site holds for the current series, at each period’s newest published release. Earlier series measured under different methods are not compared against it. Money is in cash terms: a record set years ago stands against the money of its own year.