On Tuesday 19 May, the Council of Europe published its annual SPACE I report on European crime statistics for 2025.
Carried out by the University of Lausanne, this study shows that the problem of prison overcrowding persists in many countries.
The number of prison administrations reporting severe overcrowding rose from 6 in January 2024 to 9 in January 2025.
These are Türkiye and France (both with 131 prisoners per 100 places), Croatia (123), Italy (121), Malta (118), Cyprus (117), Hungary (115), Belgium (114) and Ireland (112).
Overall, the number of prisoners per 100 places available increased from 94.7 to 95.2 between 31 January 2024 and 31 January 2025, with significant differences depending on the country.
As of 31 January 2025, 1,107,921 people were in detention in the 51 prison administrations of the Council of Europe Member States, representing a median prison population rate of 110 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants for the continent as a whole.
In addition, the SPACE I study notes two new challenges: the increase in the proportion of elderly people in detention (10.8% in Croatia) and the increase in the proportion of women.
The proportion of women in the European prison population rose from 4.8% to 5.2% between January 2024 and January 2025, which could reflect a change in sentencing practices.
Link to the SPACE I report: https://aeur.eu/f/lyq (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)