Prison capacity and number of persons held in Iceland

Iceland: Prison capacity and number of persons held was 160 in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
160
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
36th
of 37 countries
All-time high
181
in 2021
All-time low
140
in 2016
Years of data
14
2008–2024

Prison capacity and number of persons held in Iceland, 2008–2024

0501001502002008201620242008: 1452009: 1452012: 1412013: 1642014: 1552015: 1482016: 1402018: 1622019: 1772020: 1752021: 1812022: 1812023: 1602024: 160

Source: Eurostat.

Analysis

The most recent figure for prison capacity and number of persons held in Iceland is 160, measured in 2024.

The figure is up 3.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, prison capacity and number of persons held in Iceland peaked at 181 in 2021 and was at its lowest, 140, in 2016.

That places Iceland 36th out of 37 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.

Prison capacity and number of persons held in Iceland, year by year

Annual values for Prison capacity and number of persons held in Iceland, 2008 to 2024.
Year Value Change
2008 145
2009 145 +0.0%
2012 141 -2.8%
2013 164 +16.3%
2014 155 -5.5%
2015 148 -4.5%
2016 140 -5.4%
2018 162 +15.7%
2019 177 +9.3%
2020 175 -1.1%
2021 181 +3.4%
2022 181 +0.0%
2023 160 -11.6%
2024 160 +0.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 145 145 145 2
2010s 155.29 140 177 7
2020s 171.4 160 181 5

Countries ranked near Iceland

  1. 33 Luxembourg 932 compare
  2. 34 Malta 810 compare
  3. 35 Cyprus 424 compare
  4. 37 Liechtenstein 22 compare

See the full ranking of 40 places →

More urban development data for Iceland

All data for Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is prison capacity and number of persons held in Iceland?
Prison capacity and number of persons held in Iceland was 160 in 2024, according to Eurostat.
What is the highest prison capacity and number of persons held recorded in Iceland?
The highest recorded value was 181 in 2021.
What is the lowest prison capacity and number of persons held recorded in Iceland?
The lowest recorded value was 140 in 2016.
How does Iceland rank for prison capacity and number of persons held?
Iceland ranks 36th out of 37 countries with data for 2024.
Is prison capacity and number of persons held rising or falling in Iceland?
Over the last ten years it is up 3.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Iceland 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 — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Eurostat).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Prison capacity and number of persons held in Iceland. Statizoid, drawing on Eurostat. Retrieved 23 August 2026, from https://urban.statizoid.com/stat/prison-capacity-and-number-of-persons-held/iceland/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Eurostat); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://urban.statizoid.com/stat/prison-capacity-and-number-of-persons-held/iceland/">Prison capacity and number of persons held in Iceland</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Prison capacity and number of persons held
Source
Eurostat
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Eurostat)
Coverage
40 places, 573 data points, 2008–2024
Last refreshed