PARIS, France: France´s prisoner population broke new records last month, with the jail occupancy rate reaching an all-time high of almost 137 per cent, justice ministry data viewed by AFP on Monday showed.
Jails on February 1 counted more than 86,000 inmates despite only having capacity for around 63,000, bringing the occupancy rate to 136.9 per cent, compared to 130.8 per cent a year earlier. Since then, French prisons have taken in 5,046 more inmates while only increasing the number of places available to 1,643.
Overcrowding forced 6,596 detained people to sleep on mattresses on the floor, compared to 4,490 on February 1, 2025. France has some of the worst prison overcrowding in Europe, ranking third worst after Slovenia and Cyprus, according to a Council of Europe report published in July.
The council, which is Europe´s watchdog for democracy and human rights, in January said French prisons risked becoming “human warehouses” due to overcrowding, poor conditions and growing violence.
The warning followed a 2024 visit to four French detention centres, where the council´s anti-torture committee reported filthy cells, a lack of clean bedding and, at one prison, infestations of rats, cockroaches and bedbugs. Committee head Alan Mitchell warned the situation could “turn a prison into a human warehouse, seriously compromising human dignity”.
