French prisons overcrowding: capacity vs. population statistics.
The French newspaper Le Figaro reported that, according to statistics published yesterday (Monday) by the French Ministry of Justice, as of November 1, the number of people imprisoned in the country had reached 85,373.
It was only a year ago that this figure first exceeded 80,000 prisoners, and after 6 months of continuous growth followed by a slight decrease in August, the prison population increased again and today has exceeded 85,000 prisoners.
Of these prisoners, 22,548 are detainees awaiting trial, which constitutes 26 percent of the prison population.
Overcrowding in French prisons, according to statistics, is the gap between capacity and population.
Blue line: the increasing trend of the total number of prisoners in France since January 2018
The total number of prisoners in France becomes controversial when we consider that there are 62,668 places in the entire prison system of the country. Together, these two figures show that the capacity of French prisons is “miserably” insufficient.
According to the same statistics, the prison occupancy rate in metropolitan France and its overseas territories reaches 136.2%. Overcrowding has meant that 6,515 prisoners do not have beds and are forced to sleep on mattresses and on the floor, a figure of more than 2,500 more than at the same time last year.
Prison occupancy rate exceeds 130%
This is not new: since the early 1990s, the occupancy rate in French prisons was 124%. Since then, the only exception was 2001, when the prison occupancy rate fell to 98%, below the crisis threshold.
France’s poor performance at the European level is clear. In 2024, according to statistics published by the Council of Europe, 13 EU member states were suffering from prison overcrowding. Among them, France was one of the worst, ahead of Italy (118%) and Belgium (113%).
