Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 28 March 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 30 March 2006. It was answered by Andy Burnham (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 April 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

DNA Database

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has collected on the percentage of the population in each (a) EU and (b) G8 country upon whom a DNA profile is held by the relevant national authority.
Answer

Information on the percentage of the population of each country that has a DNA profile held on a DNA database by the relevant national authority is available for 14 European countries and five G8 countries. It is shown in the following table. The data are the most recent figures available; they reflect the position at December 2005 for most countries listed in the table. The data for the Czech Republic, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and Canada are for differing dates earlier in 2005.

Percentage of population on DNA database
Country Population Total persons on DNA database Percentage of persons on DNA database
Austria 8,100,000 84,379 1.04 0.04
Belgium 10,400,000 4,583 —
Croatia 4,600,000 10,744 0.23
Czech Republic 10,300,000 9,098 0.09
Denmark 5,500,000 4,084 0.07
Estonia 1,500,000 7,414 0.49
Finland 5,200.000 32,805 0.63
France 59,300,000 119,612 0.20
Germany 82,400,000 366,294 0.44
Hungary 10,200,000 28,278 0.28
Netherlands 16,100,000 14,747 0.09
Norway 4,500,000 6,745 0.15
Portugall 10,300,000 — —
Slovenia 2,000,000 5,782 0.29
Spain 40,400,000 2,656 0.01
Sweden 9,000,000 6,115 0.07
Switzerland 7,360,000 69,019 0.94
United Kingdom 59,800,000 3,130,429 5.23
USA 298,400,000 2,941,206 0.99
Canada 32,270,500 75,138 0.23
(76) Portugal currently has a database for crime scene profiles only.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
63142; 445 c291-2W;445 c291-2W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Databases Genetics
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk