- Country
- Saudi Arabia
- Ministry responsible
- Ministry of the Interior
- Prison administration
- General Directorate of Prisons
- Contact address
-
Saudi Arabia
- Head of prison administration
-
(Major General) Majed bin Bandar Aldoweesh, Director General of Prisons
Prison population data
| Prison population total (including pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners) |
48,660
at 2019 (via U.N. survey of crime trends etc.)
|
|---|---|
| Prison population rate (per 100,000 of national population) |
140
based on an estimated national population of 34.81 million at mid-2019 (from United Nations figures)
|
| Pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners (percentage of prison population) |
48.3%
(2017)
|
| Female prisoners (percentage of prison population) |
1.9%
(2017)
|
| Juveniles / minors / young prisoners incl. definition (percentage of prison population) |
0.9%
(January 2009 - under 18)
|
| Foreign prisoners (percentage of prison population) |
Circac. 51.4%
(2019)
|
| Number of establishments / institutions |
Circac. 110
(2016 - about 90 administered by local authorities and about 20 by Ministry of Interior)
|
Prison population trend
| Year | Prison population total | Prison population rate |
|---|---|---|
| 23,088 | 120 | |
| 23,720 | 116 | |
| 28,612 | 131 | |
| 44,600 | 165 | |
| 49,000 | 176 | |
| 47,000 | 161 |
Prison population total
Prison population rate
Female prison population: trend
The table below gives an indication of the trend in the female prison population. The final row shows the latest figures available.
It consists of the number of female prisoners in the prison population on a single date in the year (or the annual average) and the percentage of the total prison population that female prisoners constituted on that day.
The final column shows the female prison population rate per 100,000 of the national population.
SAUDI ARABIA
Year | Number of | Percentage | Female prison |
2000 | 1,570 | 6.6% | 7.7 |
2017 | 1,269 | 1.9% | 3.9 |
The number of female prisoners fluctuates and so the above figures give an indication of the trend but the picture is inevitably incomplete.
The female prison population rate is calculated on the basis of the national population total. All national population figures are inevitably estimates but the estimates used in the World Prison Brief are based on official national figures, United Nations figures or figures from other recognised international authorities.
(If the rate were calculated on the basis of the number of females in the national population it would of course be approximately double the figure in the final column.)
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