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 2018, at 230.9 per 100,000 people. Finland had the lowest, at 53.6 per 100,000 people. The median was 103.9 per 100,000 people. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest230.9Lithuania
Lowest53.6Finland
Median103.927 EU countries

All EU countries, 2018

Lithuania: 230.9 per 100,000 peopleLithuania230.9Czechia: 203.4 per 100,000 peopleCzechia203.4Estonia: 195.9 per 100,000 peopleEstonia195.9Poland: 191.7 per 100,000 peoplePoland191.7Slovakia: 189.1 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia189.1Latvia: 182.1 per 100,000 peopleLatvia182.1Hungary: 166.7 per 100,000 peopleHungary166.7Malta: 133.5 per 100,000 peopleMalta133.5Portugal: 126.5 per 100,000 peoplePortugal126.5Spain: 126.2 per 100,000 peopleSpain126.2Luxembourg: 109 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg109Romania: 106.5 per 100,000 peopleRomania106.5France: 104.7 per 100,000 peopleFrance104.7Austria: 103.9 per 100,000 peopleAustria103.9Italy: 101.1 per 100,000 peopleItaly101.1Greece: 99.2 per 100,000 peopleGreece99.2Bulgaria: 94.3 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria94.3Belgium: 90 per 100,000 peopleBelgium90Ireland: 82 per 100,000 peopleIreland82Germany: 79.4 per 100,000 peopleGermany79.4Croatia: 78.4 per 100,000 peopleCroatia78.4Cyprus: 71.6 per 100,000 peopleCyprus71.6Netherlands: 65.5 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands65.5Slovenia: 65.1 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia65.1Denmark: 62.9 per 100,000 peopleDenmark62.9Sweden: 60.4 per 100,000 peopleSweden60.4Finland: 53.6 per 100,000 peopleFinland53.6
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 countries2018
per 100,000 people		Change on 2017
1Lithuania230.9-0.8 pts
2Czechia203.4-6.1 pts
3Estonia195.9-11.1 pts
4Poland191.7-4.4 pts
5Slovakia189.1+4.6 pts
6Latvia182.1-11 pts
7Hungary166.7-10.3 pts
8Malta133.5+5.1 pts
9Portugal126.5-5.3 pts
10Spain126.2-0.2 pts
11Luxembourg109-6.8 pts
12Romania106.5-12.9 pts
13France104.7+1.4 pts
14Austria103.9+3 pts
15Italy101.1+3.6 pts
16Greece99.2+6.2 pts
17Bulgaria94.3-4.1 pts
18Belgium90-2.2 pts
19Ireland82+5.1 pts
20Germany79.4-0.4 pts
21Croatia78.4+1.6 pts
22Cyprus71.6+2.4 pts
23Netherlands65.5+1.8 pts
24Slovenia65.1n/a
25Denmark62.9+3.4 pts
26Sweden60.4+3.3 pts
27Finland53.6-2.4 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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_prison_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2018.
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 230.9 per 100,000 people in 2018, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest prison population rate?

Finland, with 53.6 per 100,000 people in 2018.

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