Albania holds record in region for number of prisoners

According to the population, there were 197 prisoners in Albania for every 100,000 people living here, ranking fourth in Europe after Lithuania, Czechia and Estonia.

Eurostat to make data more comparable has expressed the number of convicts for criminal acts in relation to each country's population. Compared to the countries of the region, Albania broke the record for the high number of prisoners. After Albania, Montenegro ranks with 179 prisoners.

In Serbia, according to Eurostat, the number of prisoners for 100 thousand inhabitants was 153, followed by Northern Macedonia with 146 prisoners, while Kosovo counted about 90 prisoners for 100,000 people.

Throughout the European Union, the average number of prisoners for 100,000 was 116, with the lowest rate since 2000.

In the European Union, the highest number of prisoners has been marked in Lithuania (see the chart) with 231 prisoners of 100,000 residents, followed by Chekhia with 209 prisoners for 100,000 residents and Estonia with 206 prisoners.

In France, Austria and Germany, the number of prisoners in proportion to the population is lower than the EU average, with 103, 100 and 79 prisoners for 100,000 people respectively.

In neighbouring countries like Italy and Greece, the number of prisoners is estimated to be 97 and 93 for 100 thousand people.

Among the lowest member states, the number of prisoners was recorded in Iceland, where according to Eurostat, the number of prisoners there was only 38 per 100,000. Following it are the countries of northern Europe, where Finland had only 56 prisoners, followed by Sweden with 57 and Denmark with 59 prisoners.