Data / Rankings / Prison population rate / EU countries

EU countries by prison population rate

Hungary had the highest prison population rate of 27 EU countries in 2022, at 199.7 per 100,000 people. Finland had the lowest, at 51.6 per 100,000 people. The median was 105.9 per 100,000 people. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest199.7Hungary
Lowest51.6Finland
Median105.927 EU countries

Map of EU countries, 2022

Austria: 100.2 per 100,000 peopleBelgium: 95.1 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria: 81.6 per 100,000 peopleCyprus: 105.9 per 100,000 peopleCzechia: 181.2 per 100,000 peopleGermany: 69 per 100,000 peopleDenmark: 71.6 per 100,000 peopleEstonia: 155.7 per 100,000 peopleSpain: 117.5 per 100,000 peopleFinland: 51.6 per 100,000 peopleFrance: 106.3 per 100,000 peopleGreece: 100.6 per 100,000 peopleCroatia: 105.9 per 100,000 peopleHungary: 199.7 per 100,000 peopleIreland: 86.3 per 100,000 peopleItaly: 97.3 per 100,000 peopleLithuania: 177.2 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg: 109.2 per 100,000 peopleLatvia: 172.1 per 100,000 peopleMalta: 107.3 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands: 63.9 per 100,000 peoplePoland: 190.5 per 100,000 peoplePortugal: 120.8 per 100,000 peopleRomania: 121.2 per 100,000 peopleSweden: 80.5 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia: 65.5 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia: 181 per 100,000 people
  • Under 81
  • 81 to 100
  • 100 to 110
  • 110 to 170
  • 170 and over
per 100,000 people, 2022. 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, 2022

Hungary: 199.7 per 100,000 peopleHungary199.7Poland: 190.5 per 100,000 peoplePoland190.5Czechia: 181.2 per 100,000 peopleCzechia181.2Slovakia: 181 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia181Lithuania: 177.2 per 100,000 peopleLithuania177.2Latvia: 172.1 per 100,000 peopleLatvia172.1Estonia: 155.7 per 100,000 peopleEstonia155.7Romania: 121.2 per 100,000 peopleRomania121.2Portugal: 120.8 per 100,000 peoplePortugal120.8Spain: 117.5 per 100,000 peopleSpain117.5Luxembourg: 109.2 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg109.2Malta: 107.3 per 100,000 peopleMalta107.3France: 106.3 per 100,000 peopleFrance106.3Croatia: 105.9 per 100,000 peopleCroatia105.9Cyprus: 105.9 per 100,000 peopleCyprus105.9Greece: 100.6 per 100,000 peopleGreece100.6Austria: 100.2 per 100,000 peopleAustria100.2Italy: 97.3 per 100,000 peopleItaly97.3Belgium: 95.1 per 100,000 peopleBelgium95.1Ireland: 86.3 per 100,000 peopleIreland86.3Bulgaria: 81.6 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria81.6Sweden: 80.5 per 100,000 peopleSweden80.5Denmark: 71.6 per 100,000 peopleDenmark71.6Germany: 69 per 100,000 peopleGermany69Slovenia: 65.5 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia65.5Netherlands: 63.9 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands63.9Finland: 51.6 per 100,000 peopleFinland51.6Hungary: 199.7 per 100,000 peopleHungary199.7Poland: 190.5 per 100,000 peoplePoland190.5Czechia: 181.2 per 100,000 peopleCzechia181.2Slovakia: 181 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia181Lithuania: 177.2 per 100,000 peopleLithuania177.2Latvia: 172.1 per 100,000 peopleLatvia172.1Estonia: 155.7 per 100,000 peopleEstonia155.7Romania: 121.2 per 100,000 peopleRomania121.2Portugal: 120.8 per 100,000 peoplePortugal120.8Spain: 117.5 per 100,000 peopleSpain117.5Luxembourg: 109.2 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg109.2Malta: 107.3 per 100,000 peopleMalta107.3France: 106.3 per 100,000 peopleFrance106.3Croatia: 105.9 per 100,000 peopleCroatia105.9Cyprus: 105.9 per 100,000 peopleCyprus105.9Greece: 100.6 per 100,000 peopleGreece100.6Austria: 100.2 per 100,000 peopleAustria100.2Italy: 97.3 per 100,000 peopleItaly97.3Belgium: 95.1 per 100,000 peopleBelgium95.1Ireland: 86.3 per 100,000 peopleIreland86.3Bulgaria: 81.6 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria81.6Sweden: 80.5 per 100,000 peopleSweden80.5Denmark: 71.6 per 100,000 peopleDenmark71.6Germany: 69 per 100,000 peopleGermany69Slovenia: 65.5 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia65.5Netherlands: 63.9 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands63.9Finland: 51.6 per 100,000 peopleFinland51.6
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 countries2022
per 100,000 people		Change on 2021
1Hungary199.7+8.3 pts
2Poland190.5-0.5 pts
3Czechia181.2+6 pts
4Slovakia181-4 pts
5Lithuania177.2-4.7 pts
6Latvia172.1+4 pts
7Estonia155.7-8.9 pts
8Romania121.2+1.5 pts
9Portugal120.8+7.1 pts
10Spain117.5+1.3 pts
11Luxembourg109.2+12 pts
12Malta107.3-11.7 pts
13France106.3+3.7 pts
14Croatia105.9+9.2 pts
15Cyprus105.9+17.2 pts
16Greece100.6-2.7 pts
17Austria100.2+5.7 pts
18Italy97.3+3.9 pts
19Belgium95.1+1.9 pts
20Ireland86.3+10.3 pts
21Bulgaria81.6-3.4 pts
22Sweden80.5+5.6 pts
23Denmark71.6-0.7 pts
24Germany69-0.1 pts
25Slovenia65.5+11.6 pts
26Netherlands63.9-0.8 pts
27Finland51.6+0.8 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, 2022) [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, 2022. 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=2022. 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, 2022. 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=2022.

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, 2022 [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=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_prison_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  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=2022. 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, 2022
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=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2022.
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?

Hungary, with 199.7 per 100,000 people in 2022, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest prison population rate?

Finland, with 51.6 per 100,000 people in 2022.

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