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 2015, at 251.8 per 100,000 people. Denmark had the lowest, at 56.6 per 100,000 people. The median was 101 per 100,000 people. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest251.8Lithuania
Lowest56.6Denmark
Median10127 EU countries

Map of EU countries, 2015

Austria: 101 per 100,000 peopleBelgium: 97.8 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria: 102.9 per 100,000 peopleCyprus: 64.6 per 100,000 peopleCzechia: 198 per 100,000 peopleGermany: 77.6 per 100,000 peopleDenmark: 56.6 per 100,000 peopleEstonia: 214.7 per 100,000 peopleSpain: 132.7 per 100,000 peopleFinland: 57.3 per 100,000 peopleFrance: 100.3 per 100,000 peopleGreece: 88.5 per 100,000 peopleCroatia: 79.1 per 100,000 peopleHungary: 177.1 per 100,000 peopleIreland: 81.1 per 100,000 peopleItaly: 87.9 per 100,000 peopleLithuania: 251.8 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg: 122.7 per 100,000 peopleLatvia: 222 per 100,000 peopleMalta: 129.4 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands: 64.2 per 100,000 peoplePoland: 191.3 per 100,000 peoplePortugal: 138.5 per 100,000 peopleRomania: 142.6 per 100,000 peopleSweden: 58.4 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia: 67.8 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia: 182.9 per 100,000 people
  • Under 70
  • 70 to 92
  • 92 to 130
  • 130 to 180
  • 180 and over
per 100,000 people, 2015. 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, 2015

Lithuania: 251.8 per 100,000 peopleLithuania251.8Latvia: 222 per 100,000 peopleLatvia222Estonia: 214.7 per 100,000 peopleEstonia214.7Czechia: 198 per 100,000 peopleCzechia198Poland: 191.3 per 100,000 peoplePoland191.3Slovakia: 182.9 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia182.9Hungary: 177.1 per 100,000 peopleHungary177.1Romania: 142.6 per 100,000 peopleRomania142.6Portugal: 138.5 per 100,000 peoplePortugal138.5Spain: 132.7 per 100,000 peopleSpain132.7Malta: 129.4 per 100,000 peopleMalta129.4Luxembourg: 122.7 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg122.7Bulgaria: 102.9 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria102.9Austria: 101 per 100,000 peopleAustria101France: 100.3 per 100,000 peopleFrance100.3Belgium: 97.8 per 100,000 peopleBelgium97.8Greece: 88.5 per 100,000 peopleGreece88.5Italy: 87.9 per 100,000 peopleItaly87.9Ireland: 81.1 per 100,000 peopleIreland81.1Croatia: 79.1 per 100,000 peopleCroatia79.1Germany: 77.6 per 100,000 peopleGermany77.6Slovenia: 67.8 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia67.8Cyprus: 64.6 per 100,000 peopleCyprus64.6Netherlands: 64.2 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands64.2Sweden: 58.4 per 100,000 peopleSweden58.4Finland: 57.3 per 100,000 peopleFinland57.3Denmark: 56.6 per 100,000 peopleDenmark56.6Lithuania: 251.8 per 100,000 peopleLithuania251.8Latvia: 222 per 100,000 peopleLatvia222Estonia: 214.7 per 100,000 peopleEstonia214.7Czechia: 198 per 100,000 peopleCzechia198Poland: 191.3 per 100,000 peoplePoland191.3Slovakia: 182.9 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia182.9Hungary: 177.1 per 100,000 peopleHungary177.1Romania: 142.6 per 100,000 peopleRomania142.6Portugal: 138.5 per 100,000 peoplePortugal138.5Spain: 132.7 per 100,000 peopleSpain132.7Malta: 129.4 per 100,000 peopleMalta129.4Luxembourg: 122.7 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg122.7Bulgaria: 102.9 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria102.9Austria: 101 per 100,000 peopleAustria101France: 100.3 per 100,000 peopleFrance100.3Belgium: 97.8 per 100,000 peopleBelgium97.8Greece: 88.5 per 100,000 peopleGreece88.5Italy: 87.9 per 100,000 peopleItaly87.9Ireland: 81.1 per 100,000 peopleIreland81.1Croatia: 79.1 per 100,000 peopleCroatia79.1Germany: 77.6 per 100,000 peopleGermany77.6Slovenia: 67.8 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia67.8Cyprus: 64.6 per 100,000 peopleCyprus64.6Netherlands: 64.2 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands64.2Sweden: 58.4 per 100,000 peopleSweden58.4Finland: 57.3 per 100,000 peopleFinland57.3Denmark: 56.6 per 100,000 peopleDenmark56.6
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 countries2015
per 100,000 people		Change on 2014
1Lithuania251.8-41.6 pts
2Latvia222-15.1 pts
3Estonia214.7-15.9 pts
4Czechia198+20.5 pts
5Poland191.3-17.4 pts
6Slovakia182.9-2.2 pts
7Hungary177.1-4.1 pts
8Romania142.6-8.6 pts
9Portugal138.5+2.4 pts
10Spain132.7-7.1 pts
11Malta129.4-7.2 pts
12Luxembourg122.7+8.9 pts
13Bulgaria102.9-5.8 pts
14Austria101-1.2 pts
15France100.3-0.2 pts
16Belgium97.8n/a
17Greece88.5-19.5 pts
18Italy87.9-2.2 pts
19Ireland81.1-0.9 pts
20Croatia79.1-9.5 pts
21Germany77.6-0.7 pts
22Slovenia67.8-6 pts
23Cyprus64.6+2.6 pts
24Netherlands64.2-6.7 pts
25Sweden58.4-1.8 pts
26Finland57.3-0.5 pts
27Denmark56.6-7.1 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, 2015) [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, 2015. 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=2015. 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, 2015. 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=2015.

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, 2015 [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=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_prison_2015,
  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, 2015}},
  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=2015. 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, 2015
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=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2015.
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 251.8 per 100,000 people in 2015, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest prison population rate?

Denmark, with 56.6 per 100,000 people in 2015.

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