France’s Prison Population Reaches a Record High

Moscow (ANTARA) — The number of inmates in France’s prisons has reached an all-time high, at almost 91,000.

According to data from the French Ministry of Justice on Monday (2 November), the prison population has continued to rise over recent months. In September 2026, the number of inmates exceeded 90,000 for the first time in history.

As of 1 October, France had 90,937 inmates, while its prisons had capacity for only 63,400 people. Due to the lack of space, nearly 9,000 inmates have been forced to sleep on mattresses placed on the floor, the Ministry of Justice said.

The United Nations has urged France to take immediate action to address prison overcrowding, which causes inhuman and degrading treatment.

The Council of Europe has also said that France and Türkiye are among its member states with the most severe prison overcrowding. It described France as one of the European Union countries with the worst prison-system conditions.

In July 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that France had violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights because of prison overcrowding and the absence of targeted, concrete measures to improve conditions.

Source: Sputnik/RIA Novosti