The Council of Europe’s annual SPACE I penal statistics report for 2025 found that Armenia’s prison system recorded an increase in incarcerations.
According to the report, a significant rise in imprisonment rates between January 2024 and January 2025 was registered in 13 prison systems, including Armenia, where the increase reached 5.8%. The sharpest increases were recorded in Turkey (+29%), Montenegro (+22%) and Luxembourg (+20%), according to Factor.am .
The report also noted that one in four prisoners in Europe was being held in pretrial detention. The highest shares of such detainees were recorded in Albania, Montenegro, Armenia, Switzerland and Netherlands. In Armenia, pretrial detainees accounted for 52% of the prison population.
Many European countries continue to face prison overcrowding. Across Europe, the number of inmates per 100 available places increased from 94.7 on January 31, 2024 to 95.2 on January 31, 2025.
Severe overcrowding was reported in several countries, particularly Turkey and France, where 131 prisoners were recorded per 100 available places. High overcrowding rates were also reported in Croatia, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, Hungary, Belgium and Ireland.
As of January 31, 2025, a total of 1,107,921 people were held in custody across 51 prison systems of Council of Europe member states, corresponding to an average of 110 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants.
A decline in imprisonment rates was recorded in only five countries — Ukraine, Slovakia, Georgia, Estonia and Poland.
The countries with the highest incarceration rates included Turkey, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Hungary and Montenegro.
The share of women among prisoners in Europe increased from 4.8% to 5.2%. Armenia recorded one of the lowest proportions of female inmates at 2.6%.
