World Prisons
All countries

Europe · Western Europe

Belgium

High confidence
Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 1 Nov 2025
Fresh · 9d ago

Recurrent overcrowding; the country has been condemned by the ECtHR multiple times.

Compare BelgiumWorld 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Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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

13,483

Year: 2025

Rate per 100,000

113

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

121.5%

Above design capacity

Pre-trial / remand

32.6%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

4.4%

Foreign nationals

41.4%

Conditions risk — across 79 facilities

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

—
national average
79 unknown

How Belgium compares

vs Europe (16) & global averages
Rate per 100,000this: 113 · region: 108 · global: 214
Occupancy ratethis: 122% · region: 95% · global: 125%
Pre-trial sharethis: 33% · region: 27% · 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
2000: 8,688+19.5% over 20y2020: 10,381

Prisons in Belgium

Browse all 79 →

79 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.

Antwerp prison

Belgium · Antwerpen

Type

—

Capacity

439

Held

—

Arlon prison

Belgium · Arlon

Type

—

Capacity

111

Held

—

bagne d'Anvers

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Berkendael prison

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Beveren prison

Belgium · Beveren

Type

—

Capacity

312

Held

—

Breendonk concentration camp

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Centre ferme pour etrangers illegaux de Vottem

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

160

Held

—

Centre penitentiaire ecole

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

130

Held

—

Ciperage

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

De Kolonie

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Detentiehuis Kortrijk

Belgium · Kortrijk

Type

—

Capacity

57

Held

—

Detentiehuis Olen

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Dinant prison

Belgium · Dinant

Type

—

Capacity

32

Held

—

Etablissement de defense sociale de Paifve

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

208

Held

—

Forest Prison

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

57

Held

—

Gemeenschapsinstelling De Grubbe

Belgium · Everberg

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Gemeenschapsinstelling voor Bijzondere Jeugdbijstand De Kempen

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Gesloten centrum voor illegalen Holsbeek

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Gevangenenpoort

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Gevangenis van Gent

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

393

Held

—

Gevangenis van Ieper

Belgium · Ieper

Type

—

Capacity

115

Held

—

Gevangenis van Mechelen

Belgium · Mechelen

Type

—

Capacity

84

Held

—

Gevangenis van Merksplas

Belgium · Merksplas

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Hechteniskamp Lokeren

Belgium

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

See all 79 prisons in Belgium →

Data completeness

100%

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

National population
11,970,0002025
Source-verified
20 May 2026
Source links
2 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.