How many people are imprisoned in New Zealand?

New Zealand's prison population is 11,255 people. This figure aggregates all forms of detention counted by the source: sentenced prisoners, pre-trial detainees, and administrative detentions.

What is the incarceration rate in New Zealand?

New Zealand's incarceration rate is approximately 211 people per 100,000 population.

How many prisons are there in New Zealand?

World Prisons indexes 38 individual facilities in New Zealand. Each entry links to a detail page with contact information, capacity, oversight reports, and known conditions.

All countries

Oceania · Australia and New Zealand

New Zealand

Q: Does New Zealand have the death penalty?

New Zealand's death-penalty status is: abolitionist. Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

High confidence

Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 31 Mar 2026

Aging · 5mo ago

MÄori people are ~17% of national population but ~52% of prison population.

Compare New Zealand World Prison Brief page

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

Prison population

11,255

Year: 2026

Rate per 100,000

211

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

93.8%

At or under capacity

Pre-trial / remand

40.3%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

7.5%

Foreign nationals

Figures from official sources · verified 20 May 2026 · methodology

Conditions risk — across 38 facilities

Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk

5/100

national average

2 low 36 unknown

abolitionist on capital punishment since 1989. Last known execution: 1957.ICCPR-OP2 (death-penalty abolition protocol): signatory

Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

Source: Amnesty International + Cornell Death Penalty Worldwide.

1 documented human-rights cases →

How New Zealand compares

vs regional & global averages

Rate per 100,000this: 211 · global: 214

Occupancy ratethis: 94% · global: 125%

Pre-trial sharethis: 40% · global: 32%

The vertical ticks mark the global (grey) and regional (amber) means. Bars are clipped at the high end for readability.

Prison population over time

Annual figures, latest survey year

2000: 5,720+73.5% over 24y2024: 9,924

Source: World Prison Brief / unodc

Reform in New Zealand

All reform →

Laws, programmes, and pilots changing how New Zealand incarcerates — plus relevant research.

Family Group Conferences for youth offending1989–ongoing
juvenile · active
Since 1989, most youth justice cases in New Zealand have been diverted from court to Family Group Conferences â facilitated meetings of the young person, family, victim, and police that produce an agreed plan including reparation, apology, and community work.

Held

—

Dunedin Prison

New Zealand

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Featherston Prisoner of War Camp

New Zealand

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Gisborne Gaol (Former)

New Zealand

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Hautu Prison Farm

New Zealand

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Hawke's Bay Regional Prison

New Zealand · Hastings

Multi-level

Type

Multi-level

Capacity

—

Held

—

Hokitika Gaol

New Zealand

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Invercargill Prison

New Zealand · Invercargill

Multi-level

Type

Multi-level

Capacity

—

Held

—

Korowai Manaaki youth justice residence

New Zealand

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Lyttelton Gaol

New Zealand

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

ManawatÅ« Prison

New Zealand · Linton

Multi-level

Type

Multi-level

Capacity

—

Held

—

Manawatu Prison

New Zealand · Palmerston North

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Mount Eden Corrections Facility

New Zealand · Mount Eden, Auckland

High

Type

Remand

Capacity

220

Held

—

Low

Napier Prison

New Zealand

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

New Plymouth Prison

New Zealand

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Northland Region Corrections Facility

New Zealand · Kaikohe

Multi-level

Type

Multi-level

Capacity

—

Held

—

100%

Score based on how many fields are populated. We surface this so you know where the gaps are.

National population: 5,340,0002026
Source-verified: 20 May 2026
Source links: 1 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.

Primary reference
World Prison Brief (ICPS, Birkbeck) — Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research
See /data-sources for our methodology.

ISO 3166-1 alpha-3: NZL

Cite this page

Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.

APA

World Prisons. (2026). New Zealand — prison statistics. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/countries/new-zealand

Chicago

"New Zealand — prison statistics." World Prisons. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/countries/new-zealand.

BibTeX

@misc{worldprisons-new-zealand,
  author = {{World Prisons}},
  title = {New Zealand — prison statistics},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://worldprisons.com/countries/new-zealand},
  urldate = {2026-10-15}
}