Some 60% of prisoners in the Netherlands were previously incarcerated

Almost 60 percent of people in prison last year had been jailed before, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Thursday. Last year, more than 30,000 people were in jail for a short or long period, about the same as the year before. Of these, almost 18,000 had been in detention before.

The prison population is mainly consisting of men (94 percent). Of all the women, four in ten had been in jail before. When it came to the men, this number was six in ten. This share dropped slightly in the last few years with men and women.

Last year, 2,800 young people from 18 to 23 years of age were in prison (nine percent of all the detainees). For almost three in ten of these young people, it was not their first time in an adult jail.

CBS also researched the education levels of the people behind bars: 62 percent had a secondary vocational education (MBO), and eight percent had a higher professional education (HBO) or university education (WO).

Of the people in prison last year, 47 percent were born outside the Netherlands. Within the total Dutch population, that is 17 percent. The share of people in detention who were born outside the Netherlands has increased in the previous two years. Of this group, half had already been in detention before.

According to CBS, the number of people in preliminary imprisonment increased last year. Of the 9,600 people who were detained on September 30, 2023, almost 4,400 were in preliminary imprisonment prior to their cases being treated. This is an increase of eight percent compared to 2022.