Civometry / Records / Prison population, annual average, 1900 to 2018Prison population, annual average, 1900 to 2018: record highs and lows The extremes of prison population, annual average, 1900 to 2018 as published by Ministry of Justice, across the 119 periods held here (1900 to 2018). Each record is a published figure, not a computed one, and the scope is this series — not “ever”.
The latest figure, 83,296 in 2018, is the lowest since 2008, when it was 82,572 — every period between was higher. The rule: a period counts as beaten only when its figure is strictly above the latest, and the claim is only made when it reaches back at least five years.
Highest published 86,634 2012
Lowest published 9,199 1918
The full series Prison population, annual average, 1900 to 2018: 1900 to 2018 Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative Labour Labour Labour Coalition Conservative Conservative 0 25k 50k 75k 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Before: Month-end snapshot of the prison population. After: Last Friday of the month from July 2009 to February 2010, then a new prison IT system from 2010. methodology change 1900: 17,435 people · published 26 July 2019 1901: 18,980 people · published 26 July 2019 1902: 19,437 people · published 26 July 2019 1903: 20,795 people · published 26 July 2019 1904: 21,428 people · published 26 July 2019 1905: 21,525 people · published 26 July 2019 1906: 21,074 people · published 26 July 2019 1907: 20,926 people · published 26 July 2019 1908: 22,146 people · published 26 July 2019 1909: 22,018 people · published 26 July 2019 1910: 20,904 people · published 26 July 2019 1911: 19,797 people · published 26 July 2019 1912: 19,442 people · published 26 July 2019 1913: 18,236 people · published 26 July 2019 1914: 15,808 people · published 26 July 2019 1915: 11,311 people · published 26 July 2019 1916: 10,058 people · published 26 July 2019 1917: 9,660 people · published 26 July 2019 1918: 9,199 people · published 26 July 2019 1919: 9,683 people · published 26 July 2019 1920: 11,000 people · published 26 July 2019 1921: 12,179 people · published 26 July 2019 1922: 11,766 people · published 26 July 2019 1923: 11,148 people · published 26 July 2019 1924: 10,750 people · published 26 July 2019 1925: 10,509 people · published 26 July 2019 1926: 10,860 people · published 26 July 2019 1927: 11,179 people · published 26 July 2019 1928: 11,109 people · published 26 July 2019 1929: 10,861 people · published 26 July 2019 1930: 11,346 people · published 26 July 2019 1931: 11,676 people · published 26 July 2019 1932: 12,803 people · published 26 July 2019 1933: 12,986 people · published 26 July 2019 1934: 12,238 people · published 26 July 2019 1935: 11,306 people · published 26 July 2019 1936: 10,613 people · published 26 July 2019 1937: 10,562 people · published 26 July 2019 1938: 11,086 people · published 26 July 2019 1939: 10,326 people · published 26 July 2019 1940: 9,377 people · published 26 July 2019 1941: 10,635 people · published 26 July 2019 1942: 12,400 people · published 26 July 2019 1943: 12,790 people · published 26 July 2019 1944: 12,915 people · published 26 July 2019 1945: 14,708 people · published 26 July 2019 1946: 15,789 people · published 26 July 2019 1947: 17,067 people · published 26 July 2019 1948: 19,765 people · published 26 July 2019 1949: 19,879 people · published 26 July 2019 1950: 20,474 people · published 26 July 2019 1951: 21,780 people · published 26 July 2019 1952: 23,680 people · published 26 July 2019 1953: 23,610 people · published 26 July 2019 1954: 22,421 people · published 26 July 2019 1955: 21,134 people · published 26 July 2019 1956: 20,807 people · published 26 July 2019 1957: 22,602 people · published 26 July 2019 1958: 25,379 people · published 26 July 2019 1959: 26,623 people · published 26 July 2019 1960: 27,099 people · published 26 July 2019 1961: 29,025 people · published 26 July 2019 1962: 31,063 people · published 26 July 2019 1963: 30,896 people · published 26 July 2019 1964: 29,600 people · published 26 July 2019 1965: 30,421 people · published 26 July 2019 1966: 33,086 people · published 26 July 2019 1967: 35,009 people · published 26 July 2019 1968: 32,461 people · published 26 July 2019 1969: 34,667 people · published 26 July 2019 1970: 39,028 people · published 26 July 2019 1971: 39,708 people · published 26 July 2019 1972: 38,328 people · published 26 July 2019 1973: 36,774 people · published 26 July 2019 1974: 36,867 people · published 26 July 2019 1975: 39,820 people · published 26 July 2019 1976: 41,443 people · published 26 July 2019 1977: 41,570 people · published 26 July 2019 1978: 41,796 people · published 26 July 2019 1979: 42,220 people · published 26 July 2019 1980: 42,264 people · published 26 July 2019 1981: 43,311 people · published 26 July 2019 1982: 43,707 people · published 26 July 2019 1983: 43,462 people · published 26 July 2019 1984: 43,295 people · published 26 July 2019 1985: 46,233 people · published 26 July 2019 1986: 46,770 people · published 26 July 2019 1987: 48,426 people · published 26 July 2019 1988: 48,872 people · published 26 July 2019 1989: 48,500 people · published 26 July 2019 1990: 44,975 people · published 26 July 2019 1991: 44,809 people · published 26 July 2019 1992: 44,719 people · published 26 July 2019 1993: 44,552 people · published 26 July 2019 1994: 48,621 people · published 26 July 2019 1995: 50,962 people · published 26 July 2019 1996: 55,281 people · published 26 July 2019 1997: 61,114 people · published 26 July 2019 1998: 65,298 people · published 26 July 2019 1999: 64,771 people · published 26 July 2019 2000: 64,602 people · published 26 July 2019 2001: 66,301 people · published 26 July 2019 2002: 70,778 people · published 26 July 2019 2003: 73,038 people · published 26 July 2019 2004: 74,657 people · published 26 July 2019 2005: 75,979 people · published 26 July 2019 2006: 78,127 people · published 26 July 2019 2007: 80,216 people · published 26 July 2019 2008: 82,572 people · published 26 July 2019 2009: 83,559 people · published 26 July 2019 2010: 84,725 people · published 26 July 2019 2011: 85,951 people · published 26 July 2019 2012: 86,634 people · published 26 July 2019 2013: 84,249 people · published 26 July 2019 2014: 85,307 people · published 26 July 2019 2015: 85,626 people · published 26 July 2019 2016: 85,348 people · published 26 July 2019 2017: 85,632 people · published 26 July 2019 2018: 83,296 people · published 26 July 2019
Dashed line: change in coverage or method Shaded bands: governments (see labels) Hover, tap or use arrow keys to read a value; tap again to unpin The chart as a table 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.