Europe · Western Europe

Netherlands

High confidence

Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 30 Sept 2023

Fresh · 1mo ago

Several facilities closed in the 2010s due to under-utilisation; the Netherlands briefly rented cells to Norway and Belgium.

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Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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

11,537

Year: 2023

Rate per 100,000

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

78%

At or under capacity

Pre-trial / remand

29.2%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

4.7%

Foreign nationals

25.2%

Conditions risk — across 113 facilities

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

—

national average

113 unknown

abolitionist on capital punishment since 1982. Last known execution: 1952.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.

46 documented human-rights cases →

How Netherlands compares

vs Europe (16) & global averages

Rate per 100,000this: 64 · region: 111 · global: 214

Occupancy ratethis: 78% · region: 98% · global: 125%

Pre-trial sharethis: 29% · region: 28% · 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: 13,847-13.7% over 24y2024: 11,948

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

Reform in Netherlands

All reform →

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

Closing prisons as crime fell2013–2018
decarceration · completed
Between 2013 and 2018 the Netherlands closed roughly 20 prisons as its prison population fell from ~14,000 to under 9,000. Drivers included falling crime, expanded electronic monitoring, and community-sentence alternatives.

Prisons in Netherlands

Browse all 113 →

113 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.

Amersfoort concentration camp

Netherlands

Type

Concentration camp

Capacity

—

Held

—

Arnheim concentration camp

Netherlands

Type

Concentration camp

Capacity

—

Held

—

AVIM Ter Apel

Netherlands

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Barneveld concentration camp

Netherlands

Type

Concentration camp

Capacity

—

Held

—

Caribisch Nederland

Netherlands · Caribisch Nederland

Type

Adult prison

Capacity

—

Held

—

Cellencomplex Groningen

Netherlands · Groningen

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Centrum voor Transculturele Psychiatrie Veldzicht

Netherlands · Balkbrug

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Centrum voor Transculturele Psychiatrie Veldzicht (Balkbrug)

Netherlands · BALKBRUG

Type

Forensic psychiatric

Capacity

—

Held

—

De Vecht concentration camp

Netherlands

Type

Concentration camp

Capacity

—

Held

—

Detentiecentrum Rotterdam

Netherlands · Rotterdam

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Detentiecentrum Rotterdam - Vreemdelingen

Netherlands

Type

Immigration detention

Capacity

—

Held

—

Detentiecentrum Rotterdam – Strafrecht

Netherlands

Type

Immigration detention

Capacity

—

Held

—

Detentiecentrum Schiphol

Netherlands · Badhoevedorp

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Eindhoven concentration camp

Netherlands

Type

Concentration camp

Capacity

—

Held

—

Erika concentration camp

Netherlands

Type

Concentration camp

Capacity

—

Held

—

Fivoor - FPA Rotterdam

Netherlands

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Forensisch Centrum Teylingereind

Netherlands

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Forensisch Psychiatrisch Centrum De Oostvaarderskliniek

Netherlands · Almere

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Forensisch Psychiatrisch Centrum De Oostvaarderskliniek (Almere)

Netherlands · Almere

Type

Forensic psychiatric

Capacity

—

Held

—

FPC de Kijvelanden

Netherlands · FPC de Kijvelanden

Type

Forensic psychiatric

Capacity

—

Held

—

FPC De Rooyse Wissel

Netherlands · FPC De Rooyse Wissel

Type

Forensic psychiatric

Capacity

—

Held

—

FPC Dr S van Mesdagkliniek

Netherlands

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

FPC Dr. S. van Mesdag

Netherlands · FPC Dr. S. van Mesdag

Type

Forensic psychiatric

Capacity

—

Held

—

FPC Pompestichting

Netherlands · FPC Pompestichting

Type

Forensic psychiatric

Capacity

—

Held

—

See all 113 prisons in Netherlands →

Data completeness

100%

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

National population: 17,910,0002023
Source-verified: 20 May 2026
Source links: 2 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.

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

ISO 3166-1 alpha-3: NLD