  The charged multiplicity distributions and the mean charged multiplicity have
been investigated in inclusive neutral current deep inelastic $ep$ scattering
with the ZEUS detector at HERA, using an integrated luminosity of 38.6
pb$^{-1}$. The measurements were performed in the current region of the Breit
frame, as well as in the current fragmentation region of the hadronic
centre-of-mass frame. The KNO-scaling properties of the data were investigated
and the energy dependence was studied using different energy scales. The data
are compared to results obtained in $\epem$ collisions and to previous DIS
measurements as well as to leading-logarithm parton-shower Monte Carlo
predictions.
