Criminal justice system statistics

Measures covering the wider criminal justice system. Includes trends in the use of out of court disposals, defendants prosecuted, offenders convicted, and sentencing decisions in England and Wales.


Crime against households and adults using data from police recorded crime and the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW).

Crime figures from Crime Survey of England and Wales

10.2 million

Value for 2019/20. View time series.

Police recorded crime in England and Wales

6.3 million

Value for 2021/22. View time series.

Estimated total cost of crime in England and Wales

£58.9bn

Value for 2015/16. View measure.


Out of court disposals

204,498

Value for 2021. View time series.

Defendants proceeded against

1,107,493

Value for 2021. View time series.

Offenders convicted total

958,182

Value for 2021. View time series.

Offenders sentenced total

961,525

Value for 2021. View time series.


The volume and complexity of offending patterns when reporting on all offences for which each individual is prosecuted and sentenced is too great for meaningful commentary throughout the publication of these data. For this reason, unless otherwise stated, each offender is reported only against the most severe sentence or order given for their principal offence (i.e. the principal sentence).

For futher information, please refer to the technical guide which accompanies the linked publication(s).

Offenders sentenced to immediate custody

64,907

Value for 2021. View time series.

Offenders sentenced to suspended sentence

44,478

Value for 2021. View time series.

Offenders sentenced to community sentence

71,138

Value for 2021. View time series.

Offenders sentenced to a fine

736,892

Value for 2021. View time series.

Offenders sentenced to compensation order

3,878

Value for 2021. View time series.

Offenders sentenced to other disposal

40,232

Value for 2021. View time series.

Average custodial sentence length (months)

21.9

Value for 2021. View time series.


Proven reoffending rate

24.3%

Value for Jan - Mar 2021. View time series.