Rutendo Nyeve
ZIMBABWE’S prison population has ballooned to 25 990, with young people aged 25 to 29 making up the biggest chunk of new inmates while assault emerged as the country’s most common offence.
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), in its 2026 Second Quarter Prison Admissions and Discharges Statistics report released on Wednesday, said the prison population rose from 24 072 at the end of the first quarter to 25 990 by the end of June.
Of the total, 25 057 were men and 933 were women, with males accounting for 96,4 percent of the prison population.
“The national imprisonment rate was 161 prisoners per 100 000 people,” ZimStat said.
A total of 16 146 new prisoners were admitted during the quarter, including 14 913 males and 1 233 females.
“Among both male and female admissions, the 25–29 age category constitutes the largest proportion, followed by the 20–24 age group,” ZimStat said.
And assault topped the list of offences committed by new inmates.
The 16 146 admissions accounted for 18 719 offences, with assault making up 23,2 percent, followed by theft at 19.2 percent, burglary at 7,6 percent, drug-related offences at 5.9 percent and robbery without a firearm at 5.5 percent.
ZimStat said the highest proportions of new male prisoners usually came from Harare, Manicaland, Midlands and Mashonaland West.
Among female admissions, Harare accounted for the largest proportion at 34,2 percent, followed by Manicaland at 13,1 percent.
“The least proportion of prisoners usually lived in outside Zimbabwe (1.7 percent), Matabeleland North (4,7 percent) and Matabeleland South provinces (5,2 percent),” the agency said.
Meanwhile, 14 133 prisoners were discharged during the quarter, comprising 12 984 males and 1 149 females.
Of those discharged, 8 587 were sentenced prisoners while 5 546 were unsentenced.
ZimStat said 29,5 percent of sentenced prisoners were released after completing their sentences, while 27,5 percent were discharged after completing community service.
Among unsentenced prisoners, 46.4 percent were released on bail.
The agency said the statistics are used to inform criminal justice policy, track United Nations crime trends and monitor progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 16.3.2.
