How many people are imprisoned in France?

France's prison population is 88,145 people. This figure aggregates all forms of detention counted by the source: sentenced prisoners, pre-trial detainees, and administrative detentions.

What is the incarceration rate in France?

France's incarceration rate is approximately 129 people per 100,000 population.

How many prisons are there in France?

World Prisons indexes 732 individual facilities in France. Each entry links to a detail page with contact information, capacity, oversight reports, and known conditions.

All countries

Europe · Western Europe

France

Q: Does France have the death penalty?

France's death-penalty status is: abolitionist. Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

High confidence

Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 1 Apr 2026

Aging · 5mo ago

Persistent overcrowding in maisons d'arrÃªt (remand). ECtHR judgement J.M.B. v. France (2020) found systemic violations of Article 3.

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Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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

88,145

Year: 2026

Rate per 100,000

129

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

139.1%

Above design capacity

Pre-trial / remand

31%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

3.4%

Foreign nationals

24.6%

Figures from official sources · verified 20 May 2026 · methodology

Conditions risk — across 732 facilities

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

12/100

national average

64 moderate 94 low 574 unknown

abolitionist on capital punishment since 1981. Last known execution: 1977.ICCPR-OP2 (death-penalty abolition protocol): signatory

Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

Source: Amnesty International + Cornell Death Penalty Worldwide.

169 documented human-rights cases →

How France compares

vs Europe (16) & global averages

Rate per 100,000this: 129 · region: 107 · global: 214

Occupancy ratethis: 139% · region: 94% · global: 125%

Pre-trial sharethis: 31% · 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: 48,049+69.8% over 25y2025: 81,599

Source: World Prison Brief / unodc / eurostat / Council of Europe SPACE I

Health & mortality

Custodial mortality + prison-health indicators aggregated from national statistics offices, UCLA custodial mortality dataset, and Marshall Project COVID tracking.

Indicators (latest by source)

Hiv Prevalence
1,381count
2020 · source: who-hiped
Mortality Rate
189.87per_100k_pa
2020 · source: who-hiped
Tb Incidence
34count
2020 · source: who-hiped
Hcv Prevalence
3,248count
2020 · source: who-hiped
Mental Health
54,138count
2020 · source: who-hiped

Reform in France

All reform →

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

Country reports

Report on the 2023 Periodic Visit to France · 2024

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Held

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See all 732 prisons in France →

Data completeness

100%

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

National population: 68,430,0002026
Source-verified: 20 May 2026
Source links: 3 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.

ISO 3166-1 alpha-3: FRA

Recent reports

Maison d'arrêt de la Santé12 Mar 2024
CGLPL noted that post-renovation occupancy at La Santé has returned above design capacity, with informal mattresses in some maison d'arrêt cells.
Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté · source
Maison d'arrêt de Fleury-Mérogis30 Jan 2020
France condemned for systemic Article 3 violations in remand prisons including Fleury-Mérogis. Pilot judgement requiring structural reform.
European Court of Human Rights — J.M.B. v. France · source

Cite this page

Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.

APA

World Prisons. (2026). France — prison statistics. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/countries/france

Chicago

"France — prison statistics." World Prisons. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/countries/france.

BibTeX

@misc{worldprisons-france,
  author = {{World Prisons}},
  title = {France — prison statistics},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://worldprisons.com/countries/france},
  urldate = {2026-10-15}
}