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 2017, at 231.7 per 100,000 people. Finland had the lowest, at 56 per 100,000 people. The median was 102.1 per 100,000 people. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest231.7Lithuania
Lowest56Finland
Median102.126 EU countries

All EU countries, 2017

Lithuania: 231.7 per 100,000 peopleLithuania231.7Czechia: 209.5 per 100,000 peopleCzechia209.5Estonia: 207 per 100,000 peopleEstonia207Poland: 196.1 per 100,000 peoplePoland196.1Latvia: 193.1 per 100,000 peopleLatvia193.1Slovakia: 184.5 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia184.5Hungary: 177 per 100,000 peopleHungary177Portugal: 131.8 per 100,000 peoplePortugal131.8Malta: 128.4 per 100,000 peopleMalta128.4Spain: 126.4 per 100,000 peopleSpain126.4Romania: 119.4 per 100,000 peopleRomania119.4Luxembourg: 115.8 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg115.8France: 103.3 per 100,000 peopleFrance103.3Austria: 100.9 per 100,000 peopleAustria100.9Bulgaria: 98.4 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria98.4Italy: 97.4 per 100,000 peopleItaly97.4Greece: 93 per 100,000 peopleGreece93Belgium: 92.2 per 100,000 peopleBelgium92.2Germany: 79.8 per 100,000 peopleGermany79.8Ireland: 76.9 per 100,000 peopleIreland76.9Croatia: 76.8 per 100,000 peopleCroatia76.8Cyprus: 69.3 per 100,000 peopleCyprus69.3Netherlands: 63.7 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands63.7Denmark: 59.5 per 100,000 peopleDenmark59.5Sweden: 57.2 per 100,000 peopleSweden57.2Finland: 56 per 100,000 peopleFinland56
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 countries2017
per 100,000 people		Change on 2016
1Lithuania231.7-4.2 pts
2Czechia209.5-3.5 pts
3Estonia207-10.7 pts
4Poland196.1+5.9 pts
5Latvia193.1-22.4 pts
6Slovakia184.5+0.3 pts
7Hungary177-2.6 pts
8Portugal131.8-2.8 pts
9Malta128.4+5.6 pts
10Spain126.4-1.9 pts
11Romania119.4-19.6 pts
12Luxembourg115.8-9.8 pts
13France103.3+0.8 pts
14Austria100.9+1.7 pts
15Bulgaria98.4-4.3 pts
16Italy97.4+5.2 pts
17Greece93+4.3 pts
18Belgium92.2n/a
19Germany79.8+1.6 pts
20Ireland76.9-1.8 pts
21Croatia76.8+2.6 pts
22Cyprus69.3+0.2 pts
23Netherlands63.7+1.2 pts
24Denmark59.5-0.3 pts
25Sweden57.2-0.3 pts
26Finland56-1.5 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.

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 2017 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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

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, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_prison_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2017.
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 231.7 per 100,000 people in 2017, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest prison population rate?

Finland, with 56 per 100,000 people in 2017.

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 2017 and are not ranked.

EU countries: more rankings