Highest to Lowest

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Please use drop down menu 1 to choose the category of data you wish to view, and press 'Go' to load category page. Once the page has reloaded please choose the continent/region from drop down menu 2 and then press 'Apply'.

Data shown in the highest to lowest lists are the most recent available but not necessarily from the same date. Please click on each individual country to see the date to which the data refer. As it is not possible to obtain meaningful comparative data on numbers of children in custody in different countries, we do not include juvenile imprisonment data in the highest to lowest lists.

Ranking Title Prison Population Total Prison Population Rate Pre-trial Detainees (%) Female Prisoners (%) Foreign Prisoners (%) Occupancy Level (%)
  Isle of Man (United Kingdom) 160 186 20.2 7.6 1.1 95.8
  Switzerland 6994 77 48.8 6.3 72.5 94.5
  Portugal 12941 120 23.2 7.2 17.7 101.8
  Albania 4353 185 58.4 1.4 2.4 93.6
  Moldova (Republic of) 5892 255 20.2 5.3 1.9 89.0
  Romania 24628 129 9.2 4.6 1.1 117.3
  Belgium 13075 109 32.6 4.4 41.4 125.3
  Poland 70224 193 10.9 5.4 4.2 83.3
  Norway 3010 54 29.5 4.9 28.3 83.1
  Georgia 9845 255 21.4 4.6 13.2 79.8
  Estonia 1582 115 20.4 5.1 10.5 64.9
  Czech Republic 19534 179 8.6 11.4 8.5 97.3
  United Kingdom: Scotland 8315 149 25.5 4.2 7.6 100.3
  Turkey 419194 488 14.9 4.6 4.2 132.9
  Slovenia 1570 73 39.8 5.1 48.1 116.6
  United Kingdom: Northern Ireland 2121 109 39.3 4.6 10.3 86.1
  United Kingdom: England & Wales 88424 142 20.3 4.1 12.3 108.0
  Slovakia 8116 150 14.8 7.3 5.2 70.8
  Italy 63167 107 24.4 4.3 31.8 123.2
  Ireland, Republic of 5481 99 20.0 5.1 15.8 117.2
  Guernsey (United Kingdom) 93 140 23.7 6.5 9.7 65.7
  France 84177 123 30.6 3.5 24.6 135.0
  Austria 9645 104 19.5 7.1 52.5 117.3
  Jersey (United Kingdom) 176 169 28.1 6.5 25.2 88.0
  Ukraine 44024 116 36.5 5.6 1.9 53.9
  Spain 56698 117 17.5 7.1 31.2 73.6
  North Macedonia 2605 142 12.1 3.8 7.1 101.2
  Liechtenstein 8 20 75.0 0.0 83.3 40.0
  Iceland 140 35 32.1 8.6 40.0 87.5
  Bosnia and Herzegovina: Republika Srpska 590 49 22.7 0.8 1.4 44.1
  Andorra 61 71 31.1 9.8 80.3 39.6
  Croatia 4445 115 41.4 5.1 17.5 109.1
  Bulgaria 6378 99 21.5 3.6 3.9 68.7
  Sweden 9748 92 28.3 6.8 16.7 104.9
  Germany 59413 71 26.3 5.6 48.8 82.2
  Azerbaijan 26894 264 24.3 2.9 2.0 102.8
  Denmark 4129 69 35.5 5.3 27.0 93.9
  Serbia 11701 177 21.5 4.1 6.3 97.9
  Luxembourg 613 91 47.3 4.2 75.4 61.6
  Latvia 3271 175 23.7 7.6 3.5 67.8
  Finland 3041 54 25.7 8.0 20.2 102.8
  Armenia 2469 83 53.3 2.8 8.1 55.0
  Netherlands 11537 64 29.2 4.7 25.2 78.0
  Montenegro 1047 168 47.4 3.6 16.1 75.2
  San Marino 15 44 100.0 20.0 66.7 125.0
  Monaco 31 81 41.9 3.2 93.5 31.0
  Hungary 18729 196 22.8 8.4 5.0 104.1
  Lithuania 4551 156 11.8 4.5 3.4 68.4
  Malta 671 119 41.6 6.3 51.9 82.8
  Greece 10203 98 27.6 4.9 54.1 94.7
  Cyprus (Republic of) 997 107 30.8 6.5 57.6 132.2
  Faeroe Islands (Denmark) 14 26 50.0 0.0 100.0
  Bosnia and Herzegovina: Federation 1688 79 21.3 3.2 3.6 82.6
  Kosovo/Kosova 1830 99 35.6 2.7 5.7 97.1
  Russian Federation 433006 300 25.5 8.9 6.2 67.0
  Gibraltar (United Kingdom) 92 273 26.8 7.1 33.9 93.9
  Belarus 32556 345 16.6 10.8 3.1 83.4