The number of parole applications has been on a rise since 1996 in accordance with an increase of inmates, but decreased by 4.0% from the previous year to 17,916 in 2005 (See Appendix 2-11).
  The rate of rejection of parole applications (rejection rate) has been around 2% since 1993, but increased by 1.2 points from the previous year to 3.9% in 2005.