Americas · South America

Argentina

High confidence

Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 31 Dec 2024

Fresh · 9d ago

Federal + 24 provincial systems. Buenos Aires Province alone holds >50% of the national prison population.

Compare Argentina World Prison Brief page

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

Prison population

133,585

Year: 2024

Rate per 100,000

284

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

122.9%

Above design capacity

Pre-trial / remand

38.8%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

4.3%

Foreign nationals

4.6%

Conditions risk — across 271 facilities

Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk

—

national average

271 unknown

How Argentina compares

vs Americas (9) & global averages

Rate per 100,000this: 284 · region: 514 · global: 214

Occupancy ratethis: 123% · region: 130% · global: 125%

Pre-trial sharethis: 39% · region: 34% · global: 32%

The vertical ticks mark the global (grey) and regional (amber) means. Bars are clipped at the high end for readability.

Prison population over time

Annual figures, latest survey year

2002: 57,632+84.9% over 18y2020: 106,559

Reform in Argentina

All reform →

Laws, programmes, and pilots changing how Argentina incarcerates — plus relevant research.

Home detention for vulnerable categories2009–ongoing
alternatives · active
Argentine law 26.472 permits home detention for pregnant women, mothers of children under five, the elderly (75+), and terminally ill prisoners. Greatly expanded use during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Prisons in Argentina

Browse all 271 →

271 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.

101st Intelligence Detachment

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

3rd Morón police station

Argentina

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

—

8th Mountain Signals Company

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Alcaidia de Mujeres - Unidad Regional I

Argentina · Posadas

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Alcaidia Departamental Almirante Brown

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Alcaidia Penitenciaria 56 Virrey del Pino

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Alcaidia UR-I

Argentina · Santa Rosa

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Automotores Orletti

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Batallón de Ingenieros de Combate 141

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Batallon de Ingenieros de Construccion 181

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Brigada de Investigaciones de San Justo

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Campo de Mayo Military Hospital

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Campo Las Lajas

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Cárcel de Encausados

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Carcel de Saavedra Unidad Penal Ndeg 19

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Carcel de Villa Las Rosas

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Carcel Villa Floresta (Villa Floresta - Bahia Blanca)

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Casa de la Direccion General de Hidraulica del Dique San Roque

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Casa del Cilindro

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Centro clandestino de detencion de la Alcaidia Centra de Rosario

Argentina · Rosario

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Centro clandestino de detencion de la Base Aerea Mar del Plata

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Centro clandestino de detencion de la Base Aeronaval Cte. Espora

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Centro clandestino de detencion de la Base Aeronaval Punta Indio

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Centro clandestino de detencion de la Base Naval de Mar del Plata

Argentina

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

See all 271 prisons in Argentina →

Data completeness

100%

Score based on how many fields are populated. We surface this so you know where the gaps are.

National population: 47,000,0002024
Source-verified: 20 May 2026
Source links: 1 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.

Primary reference
World Prison Brief (ICPS, Birkbeck) — Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research
See /data-sources for our methodology.