Admissions rose 19.2% over 2024; of 231,436 people held, 42.2% had no sentence, and Baja California led the country with 21,062 intakes.

This article by Clara Zepeda originally appeared in the July 16, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. In 2025, 157,457 people entered penitentiary centers (for adults) and specialized centers (for adolescents) in Mexico, which represented a 19.2 percent increase, data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) revealed.

INEGI clarified that the total number of people admitted to federal penitentiary centers (CPF) and state penitentiary centers and specialized centers (CPE) in 2024, not including data on adults from Mexico City, was 132,118 people. This meant that admissions rose 19.2 percent in 2025, compared with 2024.

Meanwhile, in 2025, for Mexico City only information from the specialized centers for adolescents was included.

The state with the most admissions was Baja California, with 21,062. It was followed by the State of Mexico, with 18,589.

Of the total number of people admitted, 9.2 percent were women and 90.8 percent were men. The highest proportions of women were recorded in the centers of the State of Mexico and Hidalgo, with 11.9 and 11.8 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the highest percentages of men were reported in the CPF, with 98.6, and in Coahuila, with 94.2.

In releasing the results of the National Censuses of Penitentiary Systems at the federal and state levels (CNSIPEF-E) 2026, INEGI highlighted that the number of people deprived of liberty or held in penitentiary centers and specialized centers who do not have a sentence in Mexico rose 13.6 percent year-on-year in 2025.

INEGI specified that of the 231,436 people deprived of liberty or held in 2025, 133,714 people (57.8 percent) had a sentence and 97,722 (42.2 percent) did not have a sentence.

In 2024, of the 236,773 people incarcerated, around 150,824 (63.7 percent) already had a sentence; while about 85,948 (36.3 percent) did not have a sentence.

Of the total, 229,682 were adults and 1,754 adolescents.

By sex, 52.6 percent of women deprived of liberty or held were people without a sentence; in contrast, 41.5 percent of men did not have a sentence.

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