Public Figures

Britain’s official statistics

Prison population and capacity

Birmingham · August 2026

Birmingham prison is holding 994 people in the 772 certified places in use — 129% full.

Read from the Ministry of Justice’s August 2026 bulletin, in the vintage we archived on 11 October 2026. The count was taken on 24 August 2026.

129%

full

994 people in accommodation certified for 772, August 2026

That is the joint 21st-fullest of the 120 establishments in the August 2026 bulletin.

It has held more people than its certified places in use in every month we hold, back to March 2018.

The fullest establishments in August 2026

  1. 1stLeeds167%
  2. 2ndDurham166%
  3. 3rdWandsworth164%
  4. 4thPreston159%
  5. 5thSwansea156%
  6. 6thExeter156%
  7. 7thDoncaster152%
  8. 8thAltcourse143%
  9. 9thCardiff140%
  10. 10thHull140%
  11. … 11 establishments between
    22ndBirmingham129%
  12. out of 120 establishments with accommodation in use

Population divided by in-use certified normal accommodation, for every establishment in the same bulletin. Establishments with no accommodation in use have no percentage and are left out of the ranking rather than placed at either end of it.

Every month we hold for Birmingham

Mar 2018108%–133% across 102 readings on recordAug 2026

One cell per month from Mar 2018 to Aug 2026, shaded from this establishment’s own emptiest month to its fullest. The record starts in March 2018 because that is the first bulletin published as a spreadsheet; earlier months exist only as word-processor files we will not guess at.

The last twelve months

MonthPopulationIn-use CNAFull
Aug 2026994772129%
Jul 2026995772129%
Jun 2026990772128%
May 2026996772129%
Apr 2026997772129%
Mar 2026993772129%
Feb 2026991772128%
Jan 2026997772129%
Dec 2025989772128%
Nov 2025992772128%
Oct 2025989772128%
Sep 2025995772129%

What the bulletin publishes, and what it means

Baseline CNA1,102
The sum total of all certified accommodation in an establishment, except normally cells in punishment or segregation units and healthcare cells not used for long-stay patients.
In-use CNA772
Baseline CNA less those places not available for immediate use — damaged cells, cells affected by building works.
Operational capacity1,003
The total number of prisoners an establishment can hold without serious risk to good order, security and the proper running of the planned regime. Determined by Prison Group Directors on the basis of operational judgement and experience.
Population994
The number of people held. The publisher notes that the prison unlock figure may be lower, as the population includes prisoners on authorised absence.

The publisher’s own definitions, quoted from the bulletin. We divide the population by in-use CNA rather than by operational capacity: operational capacity is what an establishment can be pushed to hold, in-use CNA is what it was certified to hold decently, and dividing by the larger of the two flatters every prison in the estate.