Eurostat data published on May 7th shows that Latvia has the third-highest prison population in the European Union on a per capita basis.
In 2024, there were 508 746 prisoners in the EU, indicating a 2.0% increase compared with 2023. The total number of prisoners had been declining since 2012, when it stood at 552 954, and reached a low of 463 376 in 2020. Since then, the number has risen by 9.8%.
There were 113 prisoners per 100 000 people in 2024, slightly more than in 2023 (111).
Among EU countries, the highest prisoner rates per 100 000 people were in Hungary (193), followed by Poland (191) and Latvia (187). The lowest rates were in Finland (57), the Netherlands (67) and Denmark and Germany (each 70).
Latvia’s rate rose from 173 in 2023 – an increase of 8%. Indeed, the 2024 figure is the highest recorded since 2017, when there were 193 prisoners per 100 000 of population.
However, despite the high imprisonment rate, there is still plenty of room in Latvian jails, as the data also showed the prison system is one of the least overcrowded in the EU.
14 EU countries had overcrowded prison cells. Overcrowding occurs when there are more prisoners in the prison than it was designed to hold.
The highest overcrowding rate was observed in Cyprus, with an occupancy rate of 227.6. Slovenia and France followed with 134.2 and 129.3. The lowest prison occupancy rates were recorded in Estonia (49.9), Lithuania (67.0) and Luxembourg (67.4). Latvia’s rate was the sixth-lowest in the EU with only 3,505 of its 4,564 available prison places occupied.
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