Prison capacity and number of persons held in Romania
Romania: Prison capacity and number of persons held was 20,795 in 2024. ▼ Falling
Latest (2024)
20,795
Change on year
down 3.7%
World rank
6th
of 37 countries
All-time high
34,299
in 2008
All-time low
19,414
in 2018
Years of data
17
2008–2024
Prison capacity and number of persons held in Romania, 2008–2024
Source: Eurostat.
Analysis
In 2024, prison capacity and number of persons held in Romania stood at 20,795.
The figure is down 3.7% on the previous year and down 28.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prison capacity and number of persons held in Romania peaked at 34,299 in 2008 and was at its lowest, 19,414, in 2018.
That places Romania 6th out of 37 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.
Prison capacity and number of persons held in Romania, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 34,299 | — |
| 2009 | 33,960 | -1.0% |
| 2010 | 34,165 | +0.6% |
| 2011 | 26,618 | -22.1% |
| 2012 | 27,125 | +1.9% |
| 2013 | 29,389 | +8.3% |
| 2014 | 28,901 | -1.7% |
| 2015 | 27,479 | -4.9% |
| 2016 | 27,889 | +1.5% |
| 2017 | 20,408 | -26.8% |
| 2018 | 19,414 | -4.9% |
| 2019 | 19,522 | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 19,532 | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 19,774 | +1.2% |
| 2022 | 20,571 | +4.0% |
| 2023 | 21,587 | +4.9% |
| 2024 | 20,795 | -3.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 34,130 | 33,960 | 34,299 | 2 |
| 2010s | 26,091 | 19,414 | 34,165 | 10 |
| 2020s | 20,452 | 19,532 | 21,587 | 5 |
Countries ranked near Romania
More urban development data for Romania
- Population in the largest city 17.7% (2025)
- Population density 82.85 people per sq. km of land area (2023)
- PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure 16.01 micrograms per cubic meter (2023)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 1.76 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, per capita 0.0925 units per person (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, annual -0.499 % 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 7.72 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Population in largest city 1.76 million (2025)
- Crude steelmaking capacity 5.17 Tonnes (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prison capacity and number of persons held in Romania?
- Prison capacity and number of persons held in Romania was 20,795 in 2024, according to Eurostat.
- What is the highest prison capacity and number of persons held recorded in Romania?
- The highest recorded value was 34,299 in 2008.
- What is the lowest prison capacity and number of persons held recorded in Romania?
- The lowest recorded value was 19,414 in 2018.
- How does Romania rank for prison capacity and number of persons held?
- Romania ranks 6th out of 37 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prison capacity and number of persons held rising or falling in Romania?
- Over the last ten years it is down 28.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Romania 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).