More than 200 people die in prison custody every year in England, Wales

More than 200 people die in prison custody every year in England and Wales, according to official data released on Thursday.

"We identified 2,714 deaths in prison custody from 2008 to 2019, which is equivalent to around 226 deaths a year," the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The large majority of them were male deaths-2,620 deaths making up 97%, compared with 94 female deaths, or 3%, during the same period.

Out of the total deaths in prison custody during this period, 677 were caused by suicide and 145 were drug-related deaths.

"The risk of male prisoners dying from drug-related causes was similar to the general male population between 2008 and 2015 but was higher between 2016 and 2019. This coincides with an increase in the number of deaths involving new psychoactive substances," said James Tucker, a statistician at the ONS, in a statement.