Prison capacity and number of persons held in France
France: Prison capacity and number of persons held was 62,385 in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
62,385
Change on year
up 1.0%
World rank
4th
of 37 countries
All-time high
62,385
in 2024
All-time low
51,997
in 2008
Years of data
17
2008–2024
Prison capacity and number of persons held in France, 2008–2024
Source: Eurostat.
Analysis
In 2024, prison capacity and number of persons held in France stood at 62,385. That is the highest value across all 17 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.0% on the previous year and up 7.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prison capacity and number of persons held in France peaked at 62,385 in 2024 and was at its lowest, 51,997, in 2008.
France ranks 4th of 37 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 17 years of available data.
Prison capacity and number of persons held in France, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 51,997 | — |
| 2009 | 54,988 | +5.8% |
| 2010 | 56,358 | +2.5% |
| 2011 | 57,236 | +1.6% |
| 2012 | 56,992 | -0.4% |
| 2013 | 57,516 | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 57,841 | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 58,561 | +1.2% |
| 2016 | 58,681 | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 59,765 | +1.8% |
| 2018 | 60,151 | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 61,037 | +1.5% |
| 2020 | 60,598 | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 60,749 | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 60,670 | -0.1% |
| 2023 | 61,767 | +1.8% |
| 2024 | 62,385 | +1.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 53,492 | 51,997 | 54,988 | 2 |
| 2010s | 58,414 | 56,358 | 61,037 | 10 |
| 2020s | 61,234 | 60,598 | 62,385 | 5 |
Countries ranked near France
More urban development data for France
- Population in the largest city 20.9% (2025)
- Population density 126.86 people per sq. km of land area (2023)
- PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure 8.23 micrograms per cubic meter (2023)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 15.87 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, per capita 0.2309 units per person (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, annual 0.6226 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, per unit 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, per square 29.09 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Population in largest city 11.35 million (2025)
- Crude steelmaking capacity 19.12 Tonnes (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prison capacity and number of persons held in France?
- Prison capacity and number of persons held in France was 62,385 in 2024, according to Eurostat.
- What is the highest prison capacity and number of persons held recorded in France?
- The highest recorded value was 62,385 in 2024.
- What is the lowest prison capacity and number of persons held recorded in France?
- The lowest recorded value was 51,997 in 2008.
- How does France rank for prison capacity and number of persons held?
- France ranks 4th out of 37 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prison capacity and number of persons held rising or falling in France?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this France data come from?
- The figures come from Eurostat, published as part of Prison capacity and number of persons held. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Eurostat).