Prison population in the Netherlands low, but pre-trial detention remains high

The prison population in the Netherlands is low compared to other European countries. About 54 people per 100,000 inhabitants were in prison last year, according to figures published by the Council of Europe on Tuesday. Finland was the only country with a lower level of incarcerated people, at 50 per 100,000 inhabitants.

A total of 981,575 detainees were held in the countries which provided data for the study. This amounts to an average of 104 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants.|

Norway, Cyprus, Slovenia and Germany were also among the countries where the prison population is relatively low. The countries with the highest incarceration rates when measured on January 31, 2022 were Turkey (355 per 100,000 inhabitants), Georgia (237) and Azerbaijan (217).

In the Netherlands, the percentage of prisoners decreased slightly by 0.2 percent, while the average number of incarcerations increased by 2.3 percent in countries with more than one million inhabitants. Those figures were calculated over the period from January 31, 2021 to January 31, 2022.

The Netherlands did score high in the ranking of countries when it comes to pre-trial detention. According to all European figures, an average of 25 percent of the total prison population were suspects being held on remand on January 31, 2022.

However, this rate rose to 43 percent in the Netherlands. Only two other countries rated higher for the proportion of prisoners remanded into custody. Albania led all European countries at 57 percent, followed by Switzerland, with 45 percent.

In 2021, the suicide rate among people in prison averaged 9.4 per 10,000 prisoners across Europe. Malta topped the list with the highest prison suicide rate at 48.9. In the Netherlands, 14 suicides were counted per 10,000 prisoners.