Data / Rankings / Prison population rate / EU countries

EU countries by prison population rate

Lithuania had the highest prison population rate of 27 EU countries in 2013, at 311.6 per 100,000 people. Sweden had the lowest, at 59.9 per 100,000 people. The median was 115.4 per 100,000 people. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest311.6Lithuania
Lowest59.9Sweden
Median115.427 EU countries

Map of EU countries, 2013

Austria: 104.9 per 100,000 peopleBelgium: 105.9 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria: 121.3 per 100,000 peopleCyprus: 63.9 per 100,000 peopleCzechia: 158.3 per 100,000 peopleGermany: 82.2 per 100,000 peopleDenmark: 73 per 100,000 peopleEstonia: 235.7 per 100,000 peopleSpain: 142.9 per 100,000 peopleFinland: 60.7 per 100,000 peopleFrance: 102.3 per 100,000 peopleGreece: 115.4 per 100,000 peopleCroatia: 102.1 per 100,000 peopleHungary: 180.1 per 100,000 peopleIreland: 89 per 100,000 peopleItaly: 107 per 100,000 peopleLithuania: 311.6 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg: 122.2 per 100,000 peopleLatvia: 253.8 per 100,000 peopleMalta: 146 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands: 75.8 per 100,000 peoplePoland: 210.6 per 100,000 peoplePortugal: 138.6 per 100,000 peopleRomania: 167 per 100,000 peopleSweden: 59.9 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia: 66.1 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia: 180.3 per 100,000 people
  • Under 77
  • 77 to 110
  • 110 to 130
  • 130 to 180
  • 180 and over
per 100,000 people, 2013. Source: Eurostat, Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim_pris_cap). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2013

Lithuania: 311.6 per 100,000 peopleLithuania311.6Latvia: 253.8 per 100,000 peopleLatvia253.8Estonia: 235.7 per 100,000 peopleEstonia235.7Poland: 210.6 per 100,000 peoplePoland210.6Slovakia: 180.3 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia180.3Hungary: 180.1 per 100,000 peopleHungary180.1Romania: 167 per 100,000 peopleRomania167Czechia: 158.3 per 100,000 peopleCzechia158.3Malta: 146 per 100,000 peopleMalta146Spain: 142.9 per 100,000 peopleSpain142.9Portugal: 138.6 per 100,000 peoplePortugal138.6Luxembourg: 122.2 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg122.2Bulgaria: 121.3 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria121.3Greece: 115.4 per 100,000 peopleGreece115.4Italy: 107 per 100,000 peopleItaly107Belgium: 105.9 per 100,000 peopleBelgium105.9Austria: 104.9 per 100,000 peopleAustria104.9France: 102.3 per 100,000 peopleFrance102.3Croatia: 102.1 per 100,000 peopleCroatia102.1Ireland: 89 per 100,000 peopleIreland89Germany: 82.2 per 100,000 peopleGermany82.2Netherlands: 75.8 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands75.8Denmark: 73 per 100,000 peopleDenmark73Slovenia: 66.1 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia66.1Cyprus: 63.9 per 100,000 peopleCyprus63.9Finland: 60.7 per 100,000 peopleFinland60.7Sweden: 59.9 per 100,000 peopleSweden59.9Lithuania: 311.6 per 100,000 peopleLithuania311.6Latvia: 253.8 per 100,000 peopleLatvia253.8Estonia: 235.7 per 100,000 peopleEstonia235.7Poland: 210.6 per 100,000 peoplePoland210.6Slovakia: 180.3 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia180.3Hungary: 180.1 per 100,000 peopleHungary180.1Romania: 167 per 100,000 peopleRomania167Czechia: 158.3 per 100,000 peopleCzechia158.3Malta: 146 per 100,000 peopleMalta146Spain: 142.9 per 100,000 peopleSpain142.9Portugal: 138.6 per 100,000 peoplePortugal138.6Luxembourg: 122.2 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg122.2Bulgaria: 121.3 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria121.3Greece: 115.4 per 100,000 peopleGreece115.4Italy: 107 per 100,000 peopleItaly107Belgium: 105.9 per 100,000 peopleBelgium105.9Austria: 104.9 per 100,000 peopleAustria104.9France: 102.3 per 100,000 peopleFrance102.3Croatia: 102.1 per 100,000 peopleCroatia102.1Ireland: 89 per 100,000 peopleIreland89Germany: 82.2 per 100,000 peopleGermany82.2Netherlands: 75.8 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands75.8Denmark: 73 per 100,000 peopleDenmark73Slovenia: 66.1 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia66.1Cyprus: 63.9 per 100,000 peopleCyprus63.9Finland: 60.7 per 100,000 peopleFinland60.7Sweden: 59.9 per 100,000 peopleSweden59.9
per 100,000 people. Source: Eurostat, Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim_pris_cap). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2013
per 100,000 people		Change on 2012
1Lithuania311.6-12.3 pts
2Latvia253.8-45.4 pts
3Estonia235.7-12.2 pts
4Poland210.6-13.9 pts
5Slovakia180.3-20.5 pts
6Hungary180.1+7.1 pts
7Romania167+8.7 pts
8Czechia158.3-57.3 pts
9Malta146+5.8 pts
10Spain142.9-3.6 pts
11Portugal138.6+7 pts
12Luxembourg122.2-4.7 pts
13Bulgaria121.3-8.3 pts
14Greece115.4+2.8 pts
15Italy107-6 pts
16Belgium105.9+5.1 pts
17Austria104.9+0.1 pts
18France102.3+0.3 pts
19Croatia102.1-8.8 pts
20Ireland89-4.5 pts
21Germany82.2-3.1 pts
22Netherlands75.8-4.7 pts
23Denmark73+4.4 pts
24Slovenia66.1-0.9 pts
25Cyprus63.9-14.8 pts
26Finland60.7-0.5 pts
27Sweden59.9-6.5 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Persons held in prison per 100,000 inhabitants, including pre-trial detainees, counted on one reference day of the year (Eurostat crime and criminal justice statistics).

Countries count on different reference days, mostly 1 September or 31 December. The US imprisonment rate (imprisonment_rate) counts only prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year, so it is not comparable.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim_pris_cap). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/crim_pris_cap/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim_pris_cap) (EU countries by prison population rate, 2013) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/crim_pris_cap/default/table

MLA 9

Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim_pris_cap), EU countries by prison population rate, 2013. Eurostat, European Commission, 29 Apr. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/crim_pris_cap/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2013. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim_pris_cap). EU countries by prison population rate, 2013. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/crim_pris_cap/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2013.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim_pris_cap), EU countries by prison population rate, 2013 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/crim_pris_cap/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2013 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_prison_2013,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim\_pris\_cap): EU countries by prison population rate, 2013}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/crim_pris_cap/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2013. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim\_pris\_cap). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/crim\_pris\_cap/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim_pris_cap): EU countries by prison population rate, 2013
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/29
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/crim_pris_cap/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2013
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2013.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim_pris_cap). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/crim_pris_cap/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which EU country has the highest prison population rate?

Lithuania, with 311.6 per 100,000 people in 2013, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest prison population rate?

Sweden, with 59.9 per 100,000 people in 2013.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Prison capacity and number of persons held, actual number held per 100,000 inhabitants (crim_pris_cap). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

EU countries: more rankings