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Prison Re-offending Statistics 2011 - 2018

Details of 3-year Custodial Re-offending

Statistics Under Reservation

These statistics are categorised as Under Reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO.

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Following a review of the Prison Re-offending Statistics an error was identified with the age group labels presented in the release. '51 years and over' was incorrectly labelled as '50 years and over'. This labelling error did not affect the data.

As of 11 September 2025 all labels and text have been corrected. More details on these updates are available in an Information Note. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Individuals from younger age groups continue to be more likely to re-offend

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This chapter outlines some more details about individuals who re-offended within 3 years of release from custody, and who secured a court conviction within a further 2 years. It does not include details of the relatively small number of persons committed to prison for the non-payment of a fine (details on persons who receive a fine sentence generally can be found in Chapter 5).

Younger age groups of individuals released from custody continue to have a higher likelihood of re-offending. In 2015, over four out of five (83.6%) of under 21-year olds re-offended within 3 years of being released. In comparison, just over one quarter (27.0%) of individuals aged 51 and over re-offended within 3 years of release. See Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1.

Table 3.1 Individuals released in 2015 classified by 3-year re-offending indicator and age at time of release

	Re-offended within 3 years
< 21 years	83.6
21 - 25 years	75.4
26 - 30 years	70.1
31 - 35 years	57.7
36 - 40 years	51.1
41 - 50 years	44.6
Aged 51 and over	27

Individuals released from custody in 2015 for sentences related to Burglary were most likely to re-offend

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Individuals that were released from custodial sentences that related to Burglary (78.5% of whom re-offended) or Damage to property and the environment (76.3% of whom re-offended) were the most likely to re-offend within 3 years of release. See Table 3.2 and Figure 3.2.

The lowest level of re-offending took place amongst individuals released from custody for offences related to the Sexual offences offence group. Estimates indicate 19.7% of this group of individuals released from custody in 2015 re-offended within 3 years. See Table 3.2 and Figure 3.2.

Table 3.2 Individuals released from custody in 2015 classified by 3-year re-offending indicator and offence type

	Re-offended within 3 years
07 Burglary and related offences	78.5
12 Damage to property and to the environment	76.3
08 Theft and related offences	75.6
13 Public order and other social code offences	73.2
11 Weapons and explosives offences	70
04 Dangerous or negligent acts	67.1
06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences	66.7
03 Attempts/Threats to Murder, assaults, harassments and related offences	61.8
14 Road and traffic offences	61.8
05 Kidnapping and related offences	55
16 Offences not elsewhere classified	45.5
09 Fraud, deception and related offences	41.2
10 Controlled drug offences	40.6
01 Homicide and related offences	38.9
15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime	38.1
02 Sexual offences	19.7

Individuals released from custody in 2015 were most likely to re-offend in Theft and related offences

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A total of 344 out of 1,607 re-offenders (21.4%) re-offended in offences related to Theft and related offences. A significant proportion of re-offences also took place in the category related to Road and traffic offences with 258 out of 1,607 re-offenders (16.1%) linked to this group after being released from custody. See Table 3.3.

Of the total 231 individuals that re-offended after release in 2015 from serving sentences related to homicide, sexual offences or attempts/threats to murder or assaults, just 20 (or 8.7% of this group) re-offended in the same offence types as their custodial related offence. Re-offending indicators related to these groups indicate the most likely re-offending category was Public order and other social code offences (49 out of 231 or 21.2% of this group). See Table 3.3.

Table 3.3 Individuals released from custody in 2015 classified by 3-year re-offending indicator, offence relating to release and re-offending offence type

Although most prison releases are male, females continue to be more likely to re-offend

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Most individuals that were released from custody in 2015 are male (93.2%), however females (65.7% of whom re-offend) remain more likely to re-offend than males (61.4%). See Table 3.4 and Figure 3.4.

Table 3.4 Individuals released from custody 2011 - 2015 classified by 3-year re-offending indicator

	Re-offended in 3 years
Male	93.2
Female	6.8

Go to next chapter: Details of 1-year Custodial Re-offending

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Table 3.1 Individuals released in 2015 classified by 3-year re-offending indicator¹ and age at time of release
	Re-offence within 3 years
	Yes		No		Total individuals released
Age at time of release	Number	%	Number	%	Number
< 21 years	173	83.6	34	16.4	207
21 - 25 years	427	75.4	139	24.6	566
26 - 30 years	377	70.1	161	29.9	538
31 - 35 years	266	57.7	195	42.3	461
36 - 40 years	164	51.1	157	48.9	321
41 - 50 years	156	44.6	194	55.4	350
Aged 51 and over	44	27.0	119	73.0	163

Total	1,607	61.7	999	38.3	2,606
¹A released individual is classified to have re-offended if prison or PULSE records indicate the individual re-entered custody or committed a convicted incident within 3 years of their release.

Table 3.2 Individuals released from custody in 2015 classified by 3-year re-offending indicator¹ and offence type
	Re-offence within 3 years
	Yes		No		Total individuals released
Offence type	Number	%	Number	%	Number
01 Homicide and related offences	14	38.9	22	61.1	36
02 Sexual offences	13	19.7	53	80.3	66
03 Attempts/Threats to Murder, assaults, harassments and related offences	204	61.8	126	38.2	330
04 Dangerous or negligent acts	51	67.1	25	32.9	76
05 Kidnapping and related offences	11	55.0	9	45.0	20
06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences	42	66.7	21	33.3	63
07 Burglary and related offences	150	78.5	41	21.5	191
08 Theft and related offences	442	75.6	143	24.4	585
09 Fraud, deception and related offences	21	41.2	30	58.8	51
10 Controlled drug offences	140	40.6	205	59.4	345
11 Weapons and explosives offences	77	70.0	33	30.0	110
12 Damage to property and to the environment	116	76.3	36	23.7	152
13 Public order and other social code offences	134	73.2	49	26.8	183
14 Road and traffic offences	97	61.8	60	38.2	157
15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime	75	38.1	122	61.9	197
16 Offences not elsewhere classified	20	45.5	24	54.5	44

Total	1,607	61.7	999	38.3	2,606
¹ A released individual is classified to have re-offended if prison or PULSE records indicate the individual re-entered custody or committed a convicted incident within 3 years of their release.

Table 3.4 Individuals released from custody 2011 - 2015 classified by 3-year re-offending indicator¹
		Prison releases
		Re-offender		Non re-offender		Total individuals released
Year		Number	%	Number	%	Number
2011	Male	2,334	67.3	1,132	32.7	3,466
	Female	225	72.3	86	27.7	311

2012	Male	2,484	64.6	1,361	35.4	3,845
	Female	240	70.2	102	29.8	342

2013	Male	1,885	59.4	1,287	40.6	3,172
	Female	169	59.9	113	40.1	282

2014	Male	1,710	59.9	1,144	40.1	2,854
	Female	135	61.4	85	38.6	220

2015	Male	1,490	61.4	938	38.6	2,428
	Female	117	65.7	61	34.3	178
¹ A released individual is classified to have re-offended if prison or PULSE records indicate the individual re-entered custody or committed a convicted incident within 3 years of their release.

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Prison Re-offending Statistics 2011 - 2018

Details of 3-year Custodial Re-offending

Statistics Under Reservation

Individuals from younger age groups continue to be more likely to re-offend

Individuals released from custody in 2015 for sentences related to Burglary were most likely to re-offend

Individuals released from custody in 2015 were most likely to re-offend in Theft and related offences

Although most prison releases are male, females continue to be more likely to re-offend

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Table 3.3 Individuals released from custody in 2015 classified by 3-year re-offending indicator¹, offence relating to release and re-offending offence type
	Re-offending offence type²
Offence relating to release	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Total re-offenders
01 Homicide and related offences	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	2	*	*	*	5	*	*	14
02 Sexual offences	*	5	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	4	*	*	*	13
03 Attempts/Threats to Murder, assaults, harassments and related offences	*	*	14	10	*	3	19	31	4	21	4	10	44	37	5	2	204
04 Dangerous or negligent acts	*	*	3	5	*	*	2	8	*	3	2	2	10	14	*	*	51
05 Kidnapping and related offences	*	*	*	*	*	*	2	2	*	2	*	*	*	3	*	*	11
06 Robbery, extortion and hijacking offences	*	*	*	*	*	3	3	9	*	4	*	2	7	7	2	*	42
07 Burglary and related offences	*	*	4	3	*	5	33	35	*	19	3	7	20	15	5	*	150
08 Theft and related offences	*	*	10	6	*	11	50	157	4	39	10	19	54	52	19	9	442
09 Fraud, deception and related offences	*	*	*	2	*	*	*	3	*	*	*	2	2	7	*	*	21
10 Controlled drug offences	*	*	2	7	*	4	8	12	*	41	4	2	17	37	4	*	140
11 Weapons and explosives offences	*	2	*	*	*	*	6	13	2	11	5	6	14	10	4	2	77
12 Damage to property and to the environment	*	*	4	2	*	2	12	32	2	10	3	10	27	7	2	2	116
13 Public order and other social code offences	*	*	5	7	*	*	13	19	*	9	5	7	45	13	8	2	134
14 Road and traffic offences	*	*	3	8	*	*	3	7	*	15	4	*	15	38	2	*	97
15 Offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime	*	*	5	2	*	*	2	12	*	6	*	6	15	9	14	*	75
16 Offences not elsewhere classified	*	*	*	2	*	*	2	3	*	*	*	*	6	3	*	2	20
*
Total re-offenders	3	9	52	56	*	31	157	344	17	185	44	74	281	258	68	27	1,607
¹ A released individual is classified to have re-offended if prison or PULSE records indicate the individual re-entered custody or committed a convicted incident within 3 years of their release
² Please see Offence relating to release column for description of offence type.
Note: Please be advised that * is used when the figure is zero or the figure cannot be published because of confidentiality reasons.