Prison capacity and number of persons held in Sweden
Sweden: Prison capacity and number of persons held was 10,054 in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
10,054
Change on year
up 16.1%
World rank
15th
of 37 countries
All-time high
10,054
in 2024
All-time low
6,147
in 2017
Years of data
17
2008–2024
Prison capacity and number of persons held in Sweden, 2008–2024
Source: Eurostat.
Analysis
Sweden recorded 10,054 for prison capacity and number of persons held in 2024. That is the highest value across all 17 years on record.
The figure is up 16.1% on the previous year and up 55.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prison capacity and number of persons held in Sweden peaked at 10,054 in 2024 and was at its lowest, 6,147, in 2017.
Sweden ranks 15th of 37 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 17 years of available data.
Prison capacity and number of persons held in Sweden, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 7,175 | — |
| 2009 | 6,981 | -2.7% |
| 2010 | 6,805 | -2.5% |
| 2011 | 7,045 | +3.5% |
| 2012 | 6,963 | -1.2% |
| 2013 | 6,675 | -4.1% |
| 2014 | 6,475 | -3.0% |
| 2015 | 6,262 | -3.3% |
| 2016 | 6,252 | -0.2% |
| 2017 | 6,147 | -1.7% |
| 2018 | 6,539 | +6.4% |
| 2019 | 6,657 | +1.8% |
| 2020 | 6,959 | +4.5% |
| 2021 | 7,595 | +9.1% |
| 2022 | 7,964 | +4.9% |
| 2023 | 8,658 | +8.7% |
| 2024 | 10,054 | +16.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7,078 | 6,981 | 7,175 | 2 |
| 2010s | 6,582 | 6,147 | 7,045 | 10 |
| 2020s | 8,246 | 6,959 | 10,054 | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More urban development data for Sweden
- Population in the largest city 18.4% (2025)
- Population density 25.87 people per sq. km of land area (2023)
- PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure 5.26 micrograms per cubic meter (2023)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 1.74 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, per capita 0.164 units per person (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million, annual 1.06 % 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 4.17 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Population in largest city 1.74 million (2025)
- Crude steelmaking capacity 5.95 Tonnes (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prison capacity and number of persons held in Sweden?
- Prison capacity and number of persons held in Sweden was 10,054 in 2024, according to Eurostat.
- What is the highest prison capacity and number of persons held recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 10,054 in 2024.
- What is the lowest prison capacity and number of persons held recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 6,147 in 2017.
- How does Sweden rank for prison capacity and number of persons held?
- Sweden ranks 15th out of 37 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prison capacity and number of persons held rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 55.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden 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).