Recidivism rate among young adults still high
Official figures for 2023 have again found that individuals released from prison after serving sentences for public-order offences are most likely to re-offend within a year.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that, overall, 42% of those who were released from custodial sentences during 2023 were convicted of re-offending within one year of release.
The CSO said that the one-year figure remained “relatively stable” compared with the 44% re-offending rate for 2022.
High figure for public-order offences
More than two-thirds of individuals (67%) released from custodial sentences in 2023 relating to public-order offences re-offended within a year of their release. This was down slightly from 68% the previous year.
The figures show that almost two-thirds of the new offences that took place within a year of releases during 2023 were linked to either theft, public order, or drugs.
The highest levels of re-offending from individuals who were released from custody in 2023 were among young adults (aged less than 21), although the re-offending rates for this age group decreased slightly – from 63% in 2022 to 58% in 2023.
Slight rise in three-year rate
The CSO also released figures for longer-term re-offending, which looked at three-year rates for people released in 2020.
The 2020 figures showed that 58% of those released re-offended within three years – up from 57% in 2019 but lower than the 62% rate among the 2018 cohort.
Individuals serving custodial sentences for robbery (78%) were the most likely to be convicted of another offence within three years of being released.
The CSO said that people serving sentences for burglary (76%) and theft (72%) also showed prominent levels of recidivism.
Young adults
It added that there were still “significant” levels of convicted re-offending among young adults released in 2020, despite a 40% drop in the number released in that age group compared with 2019.
The figures show that 77% of adults aged less than 21 re-offended within three years of being released in 2020.
The CSO points out that 2023 is the most recent reference year available for statistics relating to one-year re-offending, as a minimum of two years is needed to establish a re-offending rate – one year for potential re-offences to take place, and one further year for court conviction proceedings to be completed.
“It is important to note that re-offending offence types do not always correspond to the same offence that individuals were initially imprisoned for,” said statistician Felix Coleman.