Ukraine

Total prison population:
44,024
Country
Ukraine
Ministry responsible
Ministry of Justice
Prison administration
State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine
Contact address

04050 KYIV-50, 81 Melnykova Street, Ukraine
Ukraine

Telephone
Head of prison administration
Grechanyuk Sergey Konstantinovich, Director

Prison population data

Prison population total (including pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners) 44,024
at 31.12.2023 (national prison administration - not including prisoners in Crimea and Sebastopol and areas of Donetsk and Luhansk that are not under the control of the Ukrainian authorities)
Prison population rate (per 100,000 of national population) 116
based on an estimated national population of 37.86 million at end of December 2023 (from Eurostat figures, excluding the population of Crimea and Sebastopol and areas of Donetsk and Luhansk that are not under the control of the Ukrainian authorities)
Pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners (percentage of prison population) 36.5%
(31.12.2023)
Female prisoners (percentage of prison population) 5.6%
(31.12.2023)
Juveniles / minors / young prisoners incl. definition (percentage of prison population) 0.2%
(31.12.2023 - excluding persons detained in pre-trial SIZO institutions)
Foreign prisoners (percentage of prison population) 1.9%
(31.12.2023)
Number of establishments / institutions 110
(2022 - 29 pre-trial institutions, 79 colonies for adults, 2 colonies for juveniles.)
Official capacity of prison system 81,663
(31.12.2023)
Occupancy level (based on official capacity) 53.9%
(31.12.2023)

Prison population trend

Year Prison population total Prison population rate
218,800 443
197,641 412
188,465 400
160,725 345
145,946 318
154,027 338
147,112 324
73,431 c. 180
60,621 c. 149
55,078 c. 138
49,823 c. 126

Prison population total

Prison population rate

Pre-trial/remand prison population: trend

The table below gives an indication of the recent trend in the pre-trial/remand prison population. The final row shows the latest figures available.

It consists of the number of pre-trial/remand prisoners in the prison population on a single date in the year (or the annual average) and the percentage of the total prison population that pre-trial/remand prisoners constituted on that day.  

The final column shows the pre-trial/remand population rate per 100,000 of the national population. 

                                                    UKRAINE

Year

Number in
pre-trial/remand
imprisonment

Percentage
of total
prison population

Pre-trial/remand
population rate
(per 100,000 of
national population)

2000
2005
2010
2013
2015*
2020*

44,700
38,768
38,030
30,854
16,035
18,919

20.4%
20.6%
25.7%
21.0%
21.8%
36.0%

90
82
83
68
c. 44
c. 53

2023*

16,051

36.5%

42

* The figures for 2015, 2020 and 2023 do not include prisoners in Crimea and Sebastopol and areas of Donetsk and Luhansk that are not under the control of the Ukrainian authorities.

It should be noted that the number of pre-trial/remand prisoners fluctuates from day to day, month to month and year to year. Consequently the above figures give an indication of the trend but the picture is inevitably incomplete.                                                      

The pre-trial/remand population rate is calculated on the basis of the national population total. All national population figures are inevitably estimates but the estimates used in the World Prison Brief are based on official national figures, United Nations figures or figures from other recognised international authorities. 

Female prison population: trend

The table below gives an indication of the trend in the female prison population. The final row shows the latest figures available.

It consists of the number of female prisoners in the prison population on a single date in the year (or the annual average) and the percentage of the total prison population that female prisoners constituted on that day. 

The final column shows the female prison population rate per 100,000 of the national population.

                                                    UKRAINE

Year

Number of
female
prisoners

Percentage
of total
prison population

Female prison
population rate
(per 100,000 of
national population)

2002
2006
2010
2013
2015*
2020*

11,727
10,085
9,139
7,977
2,753
1,404

5.9%
6.1%
6.0%
6.2%
4.8%
4.4%

24.4
21.6
20.0
17.6
7.5
4.0

2023*

2,487

5.6%

6.6

The 2015, 2020 and 2023 figures are only the totals of convicted adult females in prison colonies and they do not include those in Crimea and Sebastopol and areas of Donetsk and Luhansk that are not under the control of the Ukrainian authorities.

The number of female prisoners fluctuates and so the above figures give an indication of the trend but the picture is inevitably incomplete.  

The female prison population rate is calculated on the basis of the national population total. All national population figures are inevitably estimates but the estimates used in the World Prison Brief are based on official national figures, United Nations figures or figures from other recognised international authorities.

(If the rate were calculated on the basis of the number of females in the national population it would of course be approximately double the figure in the final column.)

Prison population trend up to 2000

The figures below give an indication of the prison population trend in the years up to 2000. They supplement the more recent figures that are shown at the foot of the Overview page and in the graphs below.

                                          UKRAINE

Year

Prison
population
total

Prison population rate
(per 100,000 of
national population)

1990
1993
1996
2000

116,400
129,500
203,988
218,800

225
248
398
443

 

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