Council of Europe’s Annual Penal Statistics on Prison Populations for 2020

The Council of Europe recently launched the SPACE I report on prison populations in 2020. One of the key findings is that the European imprisonment rate, the number of persons in prison per 100,000 inhabitants – fell again slightly in 2020, consolidating a trend that started in 2013, according to the Council of Europe’s Annual Penal Statistics on Prison Populations for 2020 (see also the Key findings).

The SPACE surveys are conducted every year for the Council of Europe by the University of Lausanne. The SPACE I survey contains information from prison administrations in the 47 Council of Europe member states, whereas the SPACE II survey focuses on probation populations. Forty-eight of the 52 prison administrations in the 47 Council of Europe member states participated in the SPACE I 2020 survey. Bosnia and Herzegovina (State and federal levels and Republika Srpska) and Ukraine did not participate. For certain indicators concerning these administrations data were retrieved from other sources.

Click here to read the full article from the Council of Europe on Statistics.