The average prison population was 64,600, almost the same as the average for 1999. It was 1 percent below 1998, the year in which the average prison population was greater than any other year. The average female prison population increased by 3 percent reaching its highest level since 1901. The average remand population decreased by 10 percent in comparison to the 1999 remand population, halting the gradual rise seen since 1993. There was a decrease in the convicted unsentenced population--probably an effect of the “Narey” reforms introduced in November 1999. The Narey reforms were measures introduced to speed up the progress of cases through the criminal justice system. The greatest proportion of adult male sentenced prisoners were serving sentences for violence (22 percent) while almost 39 percent of the adult female population were serving sentences for drug offenses. There were 4,540 inmates serving life sentences on June 30, 2000. Three-quarters of these were convicted murderers. There was a record number of prisoners (492) received into custody for life in 2000. This was a continuation of the increase in receptions since 1995. The number of prisoners was the second highest in Western Europe. Over half of the prisoners discharged from prison in 1997 were reconvicted of a standard list offense within 2 years of release. Members of ethnic minorities made up 19 percent of the male prison population and 25 percent of female prisoners. Greater proportions of male white prisoners were in prison for violent or sexual offenses (32 percent) or for burglary (19 percent) than male Black prisoners (26 percent and 11 percent respectively). Black male sentenced prisoners were more likely than white males to be held for robbery (22 percent compared with 11 percent) or drug offenses (25 percent compared with 13 percent). 1 table, 4 figures