Data / Rankings / Prison population rate / EU countries

EU countries by prison population rate

Lithuania had the highest prison population rate of 26 EU countries in 2016, at 235.9 per 100,000 people. Sweden had the lowest, at 57.4 per 100,000 people. The median was 102.6 per 100,000 people. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest235.9Lithuania
Lowest57.4Sweden
Median102.626 EU countries

All EU countries, 2016

Lithuania: 235.9 per 100,000 peopleLithuania235.9Estonia: 217.6 per 100,000 peopleEstonia217.6Latvia: 215.5 per 100,000 peopleLatvia215.5Czechia: 213 per 100,000 peopleCzechia213Poland: 190.2 per 100,000 peoplePoland190.2Slovakia: 184.2 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia184.2Hungary: 179.6 per 100,000 peopleHungary179.6Romania: 138.9 per 100,000 peopleRomania138.9Portugal: 134.6 per 100,000 peoplePortugal134.6Spain: 128.3 per 100,000 peopleSpain128.3Luxembourg: 125.6 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg125.6Malta: 122.8 per 100,000 peopleMalta122.8Bulgaria: 102.7 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria102.7France: 102.5 per 100,000 peopleFrance102.5Austria: 99.2 per 100,000 peopleAustria99.2Italy: 92.3 per 100,000 peopleItaly92.3Greece: 88.7 per 100,000 peopleGreece88.7Ireland: 78.7 per 100,000 peopleIreland78.7Germany: 78.2 per 100,000 peopleGermany78.2Croatia: 74.2 per 100,000 peopleCroatia74.2Cyprus: 69.1 per 100,000 peopleCyprus69.1Slovenia: 63.4 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia63.4Netherlands: 62.4 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands62.4Denmark: 59.7 per 100,000 peopleDenmark59.7Finland: 57.5 per 100,000 peopleFinland57.5Sweden: 57.4 per 100,000 peopleSweden57.4
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 countries2016
per 100,000 people		Change on 2015
1Lithuania235.9-15.8 pts
2Estonia217.6+2.9 pts
3Latvia215.5-6.5 pts
4Czechia213+15 pts
5Poland190.2-1.1 pts
6Slovakia184.2+1.3 pts
7Hungary179.6+2.6 pts
8Romania138.9-3.7 pts
9Portugal134.6-4 pts
10Spain128.3-4.3 pts
11Luxembourg125.6+2.9 pts
12Malta122.8-6.6 pts
13Bulgaria102.7-0.2 pts
14France102.5+2.2 pts
15Austria99.2-1.8 pts
16Italy92.3+4.4 pts
17Greece88.7+0.1 pts
18Ireland78.7-2.5 pts
19Germany78.2+0.6 pts
20Croatia74.2-4.9 pts
21Cyprus69.1+4.5 pts
22Slovenia63.4-4.4 pts
23Netherlands62.4-1.8 pts
24Denmark59.7+3.1 pts
25Finland57.5+0.2 pts
26Sweden57.4-1 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. 1 EU countries with data in other periods have no value for 2016 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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, 2016) [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, 2016. 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=2016. 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, 2016. 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=2016.

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, 2016 [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=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_prison_2016,
  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, 2016}},
  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=2016. 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, 2016
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=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2016.
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 235.9 per 100,000 people in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest prison population rate?

Sweden, with 57.4 per 100,000 people in 2016.

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. 1 EU countries have no value for 2016 and are not ranked.

EU countries: more rankings