Overall, in Europe, the number of inmates per 100 places available increased from 94.7 to 95.2 from 31 January 2024 to 31 January 2025, with significant differences across countries. In countries with over 500,000 inhabitants, 14 prison systems reported having more inmates than available places. The number of prison systems which reported severe overcrowding grew from six in January 2024 to nine in January 2025: Türkiye and France (both with 131 inmates per 100 places), Croatia (123), Italy (121), Malta (118), Cyprus (117), Hungary (115), Belgium (114) and Ireland (112).

Five prison systems reported moderate overcrowding: Finland (110), Greece (108), Scotland (United Kingdom) (106), North Macedonia (104) and Sweden (103). In addition, nine prison systems operated at or near full capacity: Romania (100), Portugal (99), Azerbaijan (98), England and Wales (UK) (96), Serbia (96), Czechia (95), Netherlands (95), Denmark (95) and Switzerland (95).