Europe · Western Europe
France
Persistent overcrowding in maisons d'arrêt (remand). ECtHR judgement J.M.B. v. France (2020) found systemic violations of Article 3.
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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%
Conditions risk — across 558 facilities
Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk
How France compares
vs Europe (16) & global averagesThe 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 yearReform in France
All reform →Laws, programmes, and pilots changing how France incarcerates — plus relevant research.
Country reports
Prisons in France
Browse all 558 →558 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.
Administration Penitentiaire
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
administrative detention center Paris 1
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Agde concentration camp
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Aincourt concentration camp
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
ancien tribunal et prison
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Ancienne maison centrale, Riom
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Ancienne maison d'arrêt (Fontainebleau)
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Ancienne Maison d'arrêt de Nantes
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
ancienne maison d'arret de Rodez
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Ancienne prison
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Ancienne prison à Petit Canal
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Ancienne prison d'Artenay
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
ancienne prison de Cayenne
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Ancienne prison de Cusset
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
ancienne prison de Saint-Louis (Marie-Galante)
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Anciennes Prisons (Guingamp)
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Ao Er Liang Jian Yu
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Arc-et-Senans concentration camp
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Argelès-sur-Mer concentration camp
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Audaux concentration camp
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Auditoire et prisons de Saint-Amour
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Aumale concentration camp
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Avignon-Le Pontet Penitentiary Center
France · Le Pontet
Type
—
Capacity
600
Held
—
bagne de Cherbourg
France
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
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
- Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté — République française
- Ministère de la Justice — Statistiques de la population détenue — République française
- See /data-sources for our methodology.
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