Young men dominate Zimbabwe's prison population, says ZimStat

Young men aged between 20 and 29 account for the largest share of Zimbabwe's prison population, with assault, theft, burglary, drug-related offences and robbery among the most common crimes leading to incarceration, according to the latest figures from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat).

In its 2026 First Quarter Prison Admissions and Discharges Statistics Report, ZimStat said Zimbabwe's prison population stood at 24,072 inmates at the end of March, comprising 23,250 men and 822 women.

"The total prison population at the end of the first quarter of 2026 was 24,072 (23,250 males and 822 females). The total prison population is the ZPCS unlock figures, which is the total number of prisoners who slept in prisons the night before the reporting date, which is 27 March 2026," the report states.

Men accounted for 96.6% of the prison population, while women made up 3.4%.

ZimStat said Zimbabwe's national imprisonment rate stood at 149 prisoners per 100,000 people, with the rate significantly higher among men at 299 per 100,000, compared with 10 per 100,000 for women.

The report also noted a decline in the overall prison population from 27,382 inmates at the end of December 2025 to 24,072 by the end of March 2026.

Young adults accounted for the highest number of new admissions during the period under review.

"The 25–29 age category constitutes the largest proportion of newly admitted prisoners by age group at 4,041 prisoners, followed by the 20–24 age group (3,357 prisoners)," said ZimStat.

Overall, males aged between 20 and 29 represented 45.5% of all newly admitted prisoners.

The agency observed that incarceration rates declined steadily with age.

"Beyond the peak (25–29 age group), admission numbers decline steadily with increasing age for both sexes, indicating a clear downward trend in incarceration among older populations," the report said.

Only 114 prisoners aged over 65 were recorded in correctional facilities during the reporting period.

The report identified assault, theft, burglary, unlawful acts involving controlled drugs or precursors, and robbery without a firearm as the offences most frequently committed by newly admitted prisoners.

"This distribution seems to mirror that of crimes that led to the imprisonment of new male prisoners. Assaults, theft, burglary, unlawful acts involving controlled drugs or precursors and robbery (without a firearm) were the most frequent crimes for prisoners in the 20–24 age category of new male prisoners," ZimStat said.

Zimbabwe currently operates 80 correctional facilities, comprising 49 main prisons and 31 satellite prisons across the country's 10 provinces.

The Midlands Province has the highest number of main prisons with eight, followed by Mashonaland East with seven, while Harare and Manicaland each have six. Mashonaland Central, Matabeleland South and Masvingo have the fewest, with three main prisons each.

The report comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa granted clemency to 4,305 prisoners in March under Clemency Order No. 1 of 2026, exercising his constitutional prerogative of mercy.

The amnesty covered convicted female inmates convicted of non-specified offences, juvenile offenders, inmates serving effective sentences of 48 months or less for non-specified offences, prisoners aged 60 years and above who had served at least one-third of their sentences, terminally ill inmates, visually impaired and physically challenged prisoners, inmates housed in open prisons, and prisoners who had served at least 20 years, including those whose death sentences had previously been commuted to life imprisonment.

However, offenders convicted of serious crimes including murder, treason, rape, robbery, armed robbery, carjacking, public violence and human trafficking were excluded from the clemency.

The report also showed that 692 foreign nationals were admitted into Zimbabwean prisons during the first quarter of 2026.

Of these, 449 were citizens of Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, including 377 men and 72 women, while 49 came from other African countries and 194 originated from outside the continent.

In terms of employment status before imprisonment, ZimStat said 9,530 newly admitted prisoners reported being employed, while 7,861 were unemployed prior to their incarceration.