YOUTHS make up more than half the prison population in the country.
According to statistics provided by the Fiji Corrections Services, out of the 1375 inmates, 819 fall in the youth category.
Spokeswoman Ana Tamani said youths were 21 to 35 years of age.
She said majority or 340 of those offenders were between the ages of 21 to 25, there were 288 people aged 26 to 30, while 191 were 31 to 35 years. She said 141 juveniles between the ages 16 to 20 were also in prison.
Mrs Tamani said the youths were in prison for different offences.
Speaking to students, parents and guardians of Nuku District School at Naselai on Friday, Yellow Ribbon Project official Jale Vosadrau said the majority of youths in the prison system were jailed for marijuana-related offences.