Between 1980 and 2023, the male and female prison populations more than doubled in France. There were more than 83,000 men and around 3,000 women in prison in France on January 1st, 2023, compared to 35,754 and 1,159 in 1980, respectively. During this entire period, the male prison population has been between 21 and 30 times greater than the female prison population.

In France, the prison population has steadily increased over the studied period, rising from 36,913 inmates in 1980 to 91,647 in 2023, an increase of more than double over 43 years.

In France, in 2023, the majority of persons imprisoned were French, representing 75 percent of the prison population, compared to almost 13 percent for prisoners with a nationality from the African continent.

In recent decades, the number of prisoners per 100 places has fluctuated in France. The year 1990 was the year with the highest density, with 124 prisoners per 100 places, whereas 2001 was the year with the lowest. In 2023, French prisons had an average of 119 prisoners per 100 operational places. Since the 1980s, the number of prisoners in France has increased steadily.

In 2023, France's incarceration rate was 106.2 per 100,000 people compared with 119.5, a decade ago in 2013. France's incarceration rate started decreasing sharply after 2015 until 2023, with the lowest point in 2021 when the incarceration rate was 92.9.

Since the early 1990s, the proportion of foreigners detained in French prisons has fluctuated but overall decreased. In 1992, more than 30 percent of the prison population was of foreign origin, compared to 22.54 percent three decades later. The smallest proportion of foreign prisoners was in 2012. In 2023, most prisoners of foreign nationality were from the African continent.

In France in 2023, out of a total of the 86,734 people imprisoned that year, a majority of them, more than 54,000, were between 21 and under 40 years old.

In 2023, there were more than 86,700 people in prisons in France. Among them, around 67,000 were French nationals, and almost 19,400 were foreigners.

In France, in 2024, more than 22.6 percent of prisoners were in prison because of violent act offenses, in addition, more than 18 percent of prisoners were in prison because of theft offenses.

In 2023, people in prison in France were on average 4.7 years older than in 1980. The average age of the prison population has indeed increased in recent decades, in particular between 1987 and 2001. In 2023, the average age of inmates stood at 34.8 years, and there were 86,734 people incarcerated in France.

The proportion of persons under 18 years of age among the incarcerated population in France has decreased in recent decades. In 1982, 2.7 percent of the prison population was made up of minors, compared to 0.8 percent in 2023. There were 86,734 people incarcerated in France in 2023.

In 2023 Turkey had the highest incarceration rate among European countries, at 408 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Georgia, which had an incarceration of 256. The country with the lowest incarceration rate in this year was Liechtenstein, which had 15 people in prison for every 100,000 inhabitants. Germany had one of the lowest rates of 69 when compared with other major European countries such as France and England & Wales, which had rates of 106 and 136 respectively. The Russian Federation has in previous years been the country with the highest incarceration rate in the Council of Europe's data, however, as the country was removed as a member of the council in 2022 due to their invasion of Ukraine, data for Russia is no longer available.

As of February 2025, El Salvador had the highest prisoner rate worldwide, with over 1,600 prisoners per 100,000 of the national population. Cuba, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, and the United States, rounded out the top five countries with the highest rate of incarceration. Homicides in El Salvador Interestingly, El Salvador, which long had the highest global homicide rates, has dropped out of the top 20 after a high number of gang members have been incarcerated. A high number of the countries with the highest homicide rate are located in Latin America. Prisoners in the United StatesThe United States is home to the largest number of prisoners worldwide. More than 1.8 million people were incarcerated in the U.S. at the beginning of 2025. In China, the estimated prison population totaled 1.69 million people that year. Other nations had far fewer prisoners. The largest share of the U.S. prisoners in federal correctional facilities were of African-American origin. As of 2020, there were 345,500 black, non-Hispanic prisoners, compared to 327,300 white, non-Hispanic inmates. The U.S. states with the largest number of prisoners in 2022 were Texas, California, and Florida. Over 160,000 prisoners in state facilities were sentenced for rape or sexual assault, which was the most common cause of imprisonment. The second most common was murder, followed by aggravated or simple assault.

This graph dispalys the average length of detention in penitentiary establishment in France from 2011 to 2018. Since 2014, the average length of detention has decreased overall. Thus, in 2018, detainees remained in prison for an average of 9.8 months.

As of December 31, 2022, France had 179 penal establishments, including 79 detention centers, and six juvenile correctional facilities.

In France, the average length of detention for prisoners had never been so high as in 2020. In that year, prisoners spent an average of 10.7 months in prison. Since 1990, the average length of incarceration has fluctuated but overall has increased. In 2023, there were 86,734 people incarcerated in France.

As of January 1st, 2023, more than 86,000 people were incarcerated in France. The Paris inter-regional prison services directorate was the one in which the most people were imprisoned, followed by Rennes, in Bretagne, and Marseille, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.The inter-regional directorates of prison services are inter-regional decentralized services of the prison administration.Since 1980, the number of persons imprisoned has been constantly increasing in France.

In France in 2022, the legal recidivism and reoffending rate among those convicted of offenses was 17.5 percent. Between 2011 and 2021, the recidivism rate of offenders remained stable: between 11.3 and 14.6 percent. Nevertheless, in 2022 this figure increased significantly compared to the previous year.

In 2022, nearly 99,000 people had been released from prison in France. This represents an increase from the previous year when nearly 93,000 people were released from prison. In 2023, there were 86,734 people incarcerated in France.

In France, the average time spent on remand in prison facilities had never been so high as in 1998. In that year, people spent an average of 4.6 months on remand. Since 1990, the average time spent on remand has fluctuated. In 2022, it had reached 3.6 months.That same year, there were 86,734 people incarcerated in France.