World Prisons
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Europe · Western Europe

Switzerland

High confidence
Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 31 Jan 2026
Fresh · 9d ago

Among the highest foreign-national shares in Europe. Operated at canton level.

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Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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

7,119

Year: 2026

Rate per 100,000

78

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

96.6%

At or under capacity

Pre-trial / remand

50.1%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

6.2%

Foreign nationals

73.6%

Conditions risk — across 108 facilities

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

—
national average
108 unknown

How Switzerland compares

vs Europe (16) & global averages
Rate per 100,000this: 78 · region: 110 · global: 214
Occupancy ratethis: 97% · region: 96% · global: 125%
Pre-trial sharethis: 50% · region: 26% · 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: 5,760+9.5% over 22y2022: 6,310

Prisons in Switzerland

Browse all 108 →

108 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.

ancienne prison de l'Eveche

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Arxhof Massnahmenzentrum fur junge Erwachsene

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Beffroi, Baulmes

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Bellechasse prison

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

340

Held

—

Bezirksgefangnis Aarau

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Bezirksgefangnis Baden

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Bezirksgefangnis Bremgarten

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Bezirksgefangnis Kulm

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Bezirksgefangnis Zofingen

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Cantonal Prison (former State chancellery)

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

carcere penale La Stampa

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

164

Held

—

Centre educatif ferme de Pramont

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

colonie fermee

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

colonie ouverte

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

county jail

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Etablissement concordataire de detention administrative de Frambois

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

etablissement d'execution des peines de Bellevue

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

65

Held

—

Etablissement de detention administrative Favra

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

etablissement de detention La Promenade

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

112

Held

—

Etablissement de detention pour mineurs et jeunes adultes "Aux Lechaires"

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Etablissement du Simplon

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

etablissement ferme Curabilis

Switzerland · Puplinge

Type

—

Capacity

92

Held

—

etablissement ferme de la Brenaz

Switzerland · Puplinge

Type

—

Capacity

167

Held

—

Etablissement ouvert avec section fermee de Villars

Switzerland

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

See all 108 prisons in Switzerland →

Data completeness

100%

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

National population
9,150,0002026
Source-verified
20 May 2026
Source links
2 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.