France’s prison population broke new records last month. On February 1st jails counted more than 86,000 inmates—despite only having capacity for around 63,000. This brings the recorded occupancy rate to 136.9%, compared to 130.8% a year earlier.
Since then, French prisons have taken in 5,046 more inmates while only increasing the number of places available by 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 last July.
Subsequently in January, the Council—acting as European watchdog for democracy and human rights—said that French prisons risked becoming “human warehouses” due to overcrowding, poor conditions, and growing violence.
