Foreign national prisoners make up 14 per cent of the overall prison population and one in five women in prison are foreign nationals.  There has been a 152 per cent increase in foreign national prisoners in the last ten years, compared to a 55 per cent increase in British nationals.  Find press releases about foreign nationals in prison here.

Key facts

• At 30 September 2007 there were 11,211 foreign national prisoners (defined as non-UK passport holders), 14% of the overall prison population. 
• These prisoners come from 169 countries, but just under half are from ten countries (Jamaica, Nigeria, Irish Republic, Vietnam, Pakistan, China, Somalia, Poland, India and Iraq).
• In February 2007, approximately 1,300 foreign nationals were held in prison or immigration detention beyond the length of their sentence.
• More than one in five women in prison, 963, are foreign nationals.
• There has been a 152% increase in foreign national prisoners in the last ten years compared to a 55% increase in British nationals.
• In twelve prisons, foreign national prisoners make up a quarter or more of the population.  Recently two prisons, Canterbury and Bullwood Hall have been reserved for an entirely foreign national population.
• A recent Prison Service survey found that nearly 90% of prisons holding foreign national prisoners are not making regular use of the translation service available.
• The vast majority of foreign national prisoners, four out of ten sentenced men and eight out of ten sentenced women, have committed drug offences, mainly drug trafficking. Six out ten foreign national prisoners are serving sentences of more than four years.

For full references, please see the Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile