Council of Europe annual penal statistics: SPACE I – prison populations: survey 2015.

• Main Authors: Aebi, Marcelo F, Tiago, Melanie M, Burkhardt, Christine
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Council of Europe 2016
• Subjects: Prison-based health service; Youth (juvenile) offending; Criminal penalty / sentence; Justice and enforcement system; Prison; Prison Inmate (prisoner); Offender; Europe; Ireland; Northern Ireland; Penal; Iceland
• Online Access: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/27027/; https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/27027/1/COE_SPACE_I_2015_Report.pdf

Key points of SPACE I 2015 1. The participation rate in the 2015 SPACE I Survey was 87%: 45 out of the 52 Prison Administrations of the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe answered the questionnaire. 2. The median European Prison Population Rate [PPR] was 115.7 inmates per 100 000 inhabitants. There was noted a decrease of almost 7% compared to 2014 (124.0 inmates per 100 000 inhabitants). As median calculated values are less sensitive to the extreme figures (i.e. very low prison population rates in small countries with less than 1mln inhabitants), it is preferable to use these values as a more reliable alternative to the average figures. Therefore, all the figures presented in the Key points section refers to median values (unless indicated) 3. On 1st September 2015, there were 1 404 398 inmates held in penal institutions across Europe (this total does not include figures for Bosnia & Herzegovina Fed. And State, Iceland, Malta, Monaco, Iceland and Ukraine, as they were not available). On the same date in 2014, there were 1 507 278 inmates (for the exactly same prison administrations and, in 2013 there were 1 529 447 inmates. The total number of inmates has been decreasing. 4. On 1st September 2015, European prisons were at the top of their capacity, holding almost 94 inmates per 100 places (average: 91). In particular, 33.3% of the Prison Administrations were experiencing overcrowding. Since 2009, the European prison density remains close to full. 5. The median age of the European prison population was 35 years, which is higher than in 2014, 2013 and 2012, when it was 34. 6. The median proportion of female inmates was 5.2% of the total prison population. Compared to the same indicator in 2014 (5.0%), there is no significant difference. 24% of female inmates were pre-trial detainees, compared to 22% in 2014. 7. The median proportion of foreign inmates was 10.8% of the total prison population. The average value being of 22.6%. Yet, there are very big differences between countries, from 0.9% in Romania ...