How many foreign criminals are in prisons in England and Wales?published at 12:48 British Summer Time
12:48 BST
Tamara Kovacevic
BBC Verify senior journalist
The Home Office has added 15 new countries to its “deport now appeal later” scheme, which allows the government to deport foreigners who commit crimes back to their home countries before they can appeal against the decision.
There were previously eight countries on that list: Albania, Belize, Estonia, Finland, Kosovo, Mauritius, Nigeria and Tanzania.
The 15 new countries are: Angola, Australia, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Uganda and Zambia.
There are 10,772 foreign offenders in prisons in England and Wales, external – or 12.3% of the total prison population – as of June 2025. Scotland and Northern Ireland manage their own prison systems.
If you look at the nationality of foreign offenders in England and Wales, Albanians come top with 1,193 people in prison as of June 2025, followed by 707 Irish nationals, 320 Indian and 317 Pakistani.
There were 774 prisoners from the 15 new countries on the list.