If we imprisoned offenders at the average rate (per 1,000 crimes) of EU members, the prison population would be 113,150 instead of 80,000. Eight out of the fifteen members of the EU for which figures are available imprisoned offenders at a higher rate than England and Wales. The calculations are based on figures for 2003 (the latest available from the Council of Europe).

With a prison population in England and Wales of 80,000, if we imprisoned at the same rate as France, the prison population would be 91,113. If custody were used at the same rate as in Scotland, there would be 88,142 in jail. Socialist Spain has the highest rate per 1,000 crimes and if her rate applied in England and Wales the prison population would be about 369,000.

1. The EU average is calculated using 17 countries because separate figures are given for England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

2. We have taken the prison population in early 2007 in England and Wales (80,000) and calculated what it would be if the imprisonment rate per 1,000 crimes were that of other EU countries.

3. The raw data on which the calculations are based and the official sources are available online at this link:

http://www.civitas.org.uk/data/prisonTooMany.php