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 2019, at 219.7 per 100,000 people. Finland had the lowest, at 53.4 per 100,000 people. The median was 102.4 per 100,000 people. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest219.7Lithuania
Lowest53.4Finland
Median102.427 EU countries

Map of EU countries, 2019

Austria: 102.4 per 100,000 peopleBelgium: 94.2 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria: 92.1 per 100,000 peopleCyprus: 86.7 per 100,000 peopleCzechia: 197.6 per 100,000 peopleGermany: 76.1 per 100,000 peopleDenmark: 67.5 per 100,000 peopleEstonia: 187.7 per 100,000 peopleSpain: 124.7 per 100,000 peopleFinland: 53.4 per 100,000 peopleFrance: 105.3 per 100,000 peopleGreece: 101.6 per 100,000 peopleCroatia: 86.7 per 100,000 peopleHungary: 167.1 per 100,000 peopleIreland: 81.9 per 100,000 peopleItaly: 104 per 100,000 peopleLithuania: 219.7 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg: 96.8 per 100,000 peopleLatvia: 177.8 per 100,000 peopleMalta: 152.8 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands: 68.2 per 100,000 peoplePoland: 196.5 per 100,000 peoplePortugal: 126 per 100,000 peopleRomania: 106 per 100,000 peopleSweden: 65.7 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia: 67.1 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia: 193.7 per 100,000 people
  • Under 77
  • 77 to 95
  • 95 to 110
  • 110 to 180
  • 180 and over
per 100,000 people, 2019. 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, 2019

Lithuania: 219.7 per 100,000 peopleLithuania219.7Czechia: 197.6 per 100,000 peopleCzechia197.6Poland: 196.5 per 100,000 peoplePoland196.5Slovakia: 193.7 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia193.7Estonia: 187.7 per 100,000 peopleEstonia187.7Latvia: 177.8 per 100,000 peopleLatvia177.8Hungary: 167.1 per 100,000 peopleHungary167.1Malta: 152.8 per 100,000 peopleMalta152.8Portugal: 126 per 100,000 peoplePortugal126Spain: 124.7 per 100,000 peopleSpain124.7Romania: 106 per 100,000 peopleRomania106France: 105.3 per 100,000 peopleFrance105.3Italy: 104 per 100,000 peopleItaly104Austria: 102.4 per 100,000 peopleAustria102.4Greece: 101.6 per 100,000 peopleGreece101.6Luxembourg: 96.8 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg96.8Belgium: 94.2 per 100,000 peopleBelgium94.2Bulgaria: 92.1 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria92.1Croatia: 86.7 per 100,000 peopleCroatia86.7Cyprus: 86.7 per 100,000 peopleCyprus86.7Ireland: 81.9 per 100,000 peopleIreland81.9Germany: 76.1 per 100,000 peopleGermany76.1Netherlands: 68.2 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands68.2Denmark: 67.5 per 100,000 peopleDenmark67.5Slovenia: 67.1 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia67.1Sweden: 65.7 per 100,000 peopleSweden65.7Finland: 53.4 per 100,000 peopleFinland53.4Lithuania: 219.7 per 100,000 peopleLithuania219.7Czechia: 197.6 per 100,000 peopleCzechia197.6Poland: 196.5 per 100,000 peoplePoland196.5Slovakia: 193.7 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia193.7Estonia: 187.7 per 100,000 peopleEstonia187.7Latvia: 177.8 per 100,000 peopleLatvia177.8Hungary: 167.1 per 100,000 peopleHungary167.1Malta: 152.8 per 100,000 peopleMalta152.8Portugal: 126 per 100,000 peoplePortugal126Spain: 124.7 per 100,000 peopleSpain124.7Romania: 106 per 100,000 peopleRomania106France: 105.3 per 100,000 peopleFrance105.3Italy: 104 per 100,000 peopleItaly104Austria: 102.4 per 100,000 peopleAustria102.4Greece: 101.6 per 100,000 peopleGreece101.6Luxembourg: 96.8 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg96.8Belgium: 94.2 per 100,000 peopleBelgium94.2Bulgaria: 92.1 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria92.1Croatia: 86.7 per 100,000 peopleCroatia86.7Cyprus: 86.7 per 100,000 peopleCyprus86.7Ireland: 81.9 per 100,000 peopleIreland81.9Germany: 76.1 per 100,000 peopleGermany76.1Netherlands: 68.2 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands68.2Denmark: 67.5 per 100,000 peopleDenmark67.5Slovenia: 67.1 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia67.1Sweden: 65.7 per 100,000 peopleSweden65.7Finland: 53.4 per 100,000 peopleFinland53.4
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 countries2019
per 100,000 people		Change on 2018
1Lithuania219.7-11.2 pts
2Czechia197.6-5.7 pts
3Poland196.5+4.8 pts
4Slovakia193.7+4.5 pts
5Estonia187.7-8.2 pts
6Latvia177.8-4.3 pts
7Hungary167.1+0.4 pts
8Malta152.8+19.3 pts
9Portugal126-0.5 pts
10Spain124.7-1.5 pts
11Romania106-0.5 pts
12France105.3+0.6 pts
13Italy104+3 pts
14Austria102.4-1.5 pts
15Greece101.6+2.4 pts
16Luxembourg96.8-12.2 pts
17Belgium94.2+4.2 pts
18Bulgaria92.1-2.2 pts
19Croatia86.7+8.3 pts
20Cyprus86.7+15 pts
21Ireland81.9-0.1 pts
22Germany76.1-3.4 pts
23Netherlands68.2+2.7 pts
24Denmark67.5+4.6 pts
25Slovenia67.1+2 pts
26Sweden65.7+5.3 pts
27Finland53.4-0.3 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, 2019) [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, 2019. 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=2019. 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, 2019. 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=2019.

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, 2019 [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=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_prison_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  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=2019. 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, 2019
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=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2019.
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 219.7 per 100,000 people in 2019, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest prison population rate?

Finland, with 53.4 per 100,000 people in 2019.

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