Data / Rankings / Prison population rate / EU countries

EU countries by prison population rate

Poland had the highest prison population rate of 27 EU countries in 2023, at 202.7 per 100,000 people. Finland had the lowest, at 53.2 per 100,000 people. The median was 104.4 per 100,000 people. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

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Highest202.7Poland
Lowest53.2Finland
Median104.427 EU countries

Map of EU countries, 2023

Austria: 99.8 per 100,000 peopleBelgium: 101.3 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria: 85.7 per 100,000 peopleCyprus: 101 per 100,000 peopleCzechia: 180.7 per 100,000 peopleGermany: 71.2 per 100,000 peopleDenmark: 70 per 100,000 peopleEstonia: 134.8 per 100,000 peopleSpain: 117.9 per 100,000 peopleFinland: 53.2 per 100,000 peopleFrance: 111.2 per 100,000 peopleGreece: 98.4 per 100,000 peopleCroatia: 115.4 per 100,000 peopleHungary: 186.9 per 100,000 peopleIreland: 89.8 per 100,000 peopleItaly: 104.4 per 100,000 peopleLithuania: 159.3 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg: 91.6 per 100,000 peopleLatvia: 173.7 per 100,000 peopleMalta: 124 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands: 65.6 per 100,000 peoplePoland: 202.7 per 100,000 peoplePortugal: 117.2 per 100,000 peopleRomania: 124.1 per 100,000 peopleSweden: 92.7 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia: 67.9 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia: 179.1 per 100,000 people
  • Under 87
  • 87 to 100
  • 100 to 120
  • 120 to 150
  • 150 and over
per 100,000 people, 2023. 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, 2023

Poland: 202.7 per 100,000 peoplePoland202.7Hungary: 186.9 per 100,000 peopleHungary186.9Czechia: 180.7 per 100,000 peopleCzechia180.7Slovakia: 179.1 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia179.1Latvia: 173.7 per 100,000 peopleLatvia173.7Lithuania: 159.3 per 100,000 peopleLithuania159.3Estonia: 134.8 per 100,000 peopleEstonia134.8Romania: 124.1 per 100,000 peopleRomania124.1Malta: 124 per 100,000 peopleMalta124Spain: 117.9 per 100,000 peopleSpain117.9Portugal: 117.2 per 100,000 peoplePortugal117.2Croatia: 115.4 per 100,000 peopleCroatia115.4France: 111.2 per 100,000 peopleFrance111.2Italy: 104.4 per 100,000 peopleItaly104.4Belgium: 101.3 per 100,000 peopleBelgium101.3Cyprus: 101 per 100,000 peopleCyprus101Austria: 99.8 per 100,000 peopleAustria99.8Greece: 98.4 per 100,000 peopleGreece98.4Sweden: 92.7 per 100,000 peopleSweden92.7Luxembourg: 91.6 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg91.6Ireland: 89.8 per 100,000 peopleIreland89.8Bulgaria: 85.7 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria85.7Germany: 71.2 per 100,000 peopleGermany71.2Denmark: 70 per 100,000 peopleDenmark70Slovenia: 67.9 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia67.9Netherlands: 65.6 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands65.6Finland: 53.2 per 100,000 peopleFinland53.2Poland: 202.7 per 100,000 peoplePoland202.7Hungary: 186.9 per 100,000 peopleHungary186.9Czechia: 180.7 per 100,000 peopleCzechia180.7Slovakia: 179.1 per 100,000 peopleSlovakia179.1Latvia: 173.7 per 100,000 peopleLatvia173.7Lithuania: 159.3 per 100,000 peopleLithuania159.3Estonia: 134.8 per 100,000 peopleEstonia134.8Romania: 124.1 per 100,000 peopleRomania124.1Malta: 124 per 100,000 peopleMalta124Spain: 117.9 per 100,000 peopleSpain117.9Portugal: 117.2 per 100,000 peoplePortugal117.2Croatia: 115.4 per 100,000 peopleCroatia115.4France: 111.2 per 100,000 peopleFrance111.2Italy: 104.4 per 100,000 peopleItaly104.4Belgium: 101.3 per 100,000 peopleBelgium101.3Cyprus: 101 per 100,000 peopleCyprus101Austria: 99.8 per 100,000 peopleAustria99.8Greece: 98.4 per 100,000 peopleGreece98.4Sweden: 92.7 per 100,000 peopleSweden92.7Luxembourg: 91.6 per 100,000 peopleLuxembourg91.6Ireland: 89.8 per 100,000 peopleIreland89.8Bulgaria: 85.7 per 100,000 peopleBulgaria85.7Germany: 71.2 per 100,000 peopleGermany71.2Denmark: 70 per 100,000 peopleDenmark70Slovenia: 67.9 per 100,000 peopleSlovenia67.9Netherlands: 65.6 per 100,000 peopleNetherlands65.6Finland: 53.2 per 100,000 peopleFinland53.2
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 countries2023
per 100,000 people		Change on 2022
1Poland202.7+12.2 pts
2Hungary186.9-12.8 pts
3Czechia180.7-0.4 pts
4Slovakia179.1-1.9 pts
5Latvia173.7+1.6 pts
6Lithuania159.3-17.9 pts
7Estonia134.8-20.9 pts
8Romania124.1+2.9 pts
9Malta124+16.7 pts
10Spain117.9+0.4 pts
11Portugal117.2-3.6 pts
12Croatia115.4+9.5 pts
13France111.2+4.8 pts
14Italy104.4+7 pts
15Belgium101.3+6.2 pts
16Cyprus101-4.8 pts
17Austria99.8-0.3 pts
18Greece98.4-2.3 pts
19Sweden92.7+12.2 pts
20Luxembourg91.6-17.7 pts
21Ireland89.8+3.4 pts
22Bulgaria85.7+4.2 pts
23Germany71.2+2.1 pts
24Denmark70-1.6 pts
25Slovenia67.9+2.4 pts
26Netherlands65.6+1.7 pts
27Finland53.2+1.7 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, 2023) [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, 2023. 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=2023. 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, 2023. 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=2023.

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, 2023 [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=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_prison_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  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=2023. 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, 2023
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=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/prison-population-rate/eu-countries?period=2023.
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?

Poland, with 202.7 per 100,000 people in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest prison population rate?

Finland, with 53.2 per 100,000 people in 2023.

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