Reconvictions

Scotland's reconviction rate was 26.9 per cent in 2020-21 – a 2.6 percentage point increase from 24.3 per cent in 2019-20. The average number of reconvictions per offender, a measure of how often offenders are reconvicted, increased by eight per cent in the same period from 0.41 to 0.44.

Reconviction rates have decreased from 2018-19 across almost all groups, new statistics from Scotland’s chief statistician show. This is the first year that reconviction data affected by the pandemic has been published and is therefore not considered to be indicative of longer-term trends

Reconvictions in Scotland have increased in the past year, going against the general downwards trend over the past decade. The reconviction rate, which is the percentage of offenders who are reconvicted in a year, was 28.3 per cent in 2018-19, which is a 1.9 percentage point increase from 26.4 per c