Our analysis shows clear differences in the European prison landscape:Turkey leads with an incarceration rate of 0.41%, while Liechtenstein represents the other extreme with 0.0151%. Germany is in the middle at 0.0689%, slightly above the European average. Fascinatingly, while Western Europe has lower rates, Balkan and Eastern European countries dominate the higher ranks.
There are also surprises when it comes to prison escapes: France and Austria stand out with high rates. The European prison system shows clear regional differences – and remains a challenge.
Does the data for France includes the “refugee detainment centers” in which the guards would pretty much look the other way because they know they’ll catch a dingy to the UK?
It’s always beautiful when data fits nice historically.
I’d like to see escape rate per attempt.
Are French prisons based on the honor system?
Why is Germany yellow?
It seems that the statistics for France include escapes after sentence adjustments. For example, prisoners who are only required to return to prison at night to sleep.
Also, those placed under electronic monitoring who do not comply with their house detention rules.
I think the majority of the statistics do not represent escapes as we typically imagine them.
0.5 people escaped from a Hungarian prison, must have been messy.
As always with absurd data like this, they’re more to the story… Like what is considered an escape.
I’m imagining a tv station in France that just airs Le Trou & A Man Escaped on a loop.
>1% is crazy.
Out of a 100 prisoners 1 is making it out.
Remove minimum level security escapes and I bet the Frogs are on par with everyone else.
This would mean you have the ”best chance of escaping” only if escapes were randomly distributed and mandatory
What this chart doesn’t show you is that even though it may be “easier” to escape French prisons, the French prison guards on duty will make it their life mission to find you and will commit suicide if you save his life.
It makes sense for the country that every July 14th celebrates taking a prison to liberate its prisoners
“France has had more recorded helicopter prison escape attempts than any other country, with at least 11”
You can literally just walk out of some Finnish prisons. No walls whatsoever. I think prisons who are considered not dangerous are put to these facilities. Why they don’t escape? Because if you escape they put you to a proper prison next time (and for some, their prison isn’t actually too bad).
This may be a language difference, but in English, this would be prison security rather than prison safety.
Security is protection from intentional acts. Safety is protection from accidents.
Spent too long looking for the UK. Cries in Brexit.
I wish people would understand that ‘Europe’ and ‘The European Union’ are not the same thing.
In Finland if you get less than 2 years “prison” sentence, you serve it in “open” prison (avovankila). It means essentially “hotel” where you have to be present during the evening/night time. During day you can go to school/work.
So I think the “escape” doesn’t mean really escaping in the original sense of the word, but rather not returning voluntarily to prison after holiday/work/school day.
![Prison Security and Incarceration Rates in Europe [OC]](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/pqd1jp49m9oe1-1920x1024.png)
27 comments
**Article:** [**https://www.datapulse.de/en/prison-security-in-europe/**](https://www.datapulse.de/en/prison-security-in-europe/)
**Main data source:** [Council of Europe – Annual penal statistics](https://www.coe.int/en/web/prison/space)
**Data:** [Google Sheets](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rvAPQ5PUQE-eAjPEXyjkJidr6W0VCfYXz58J6piD7NA/edit?usp=sharing)
**Tool:** Adobe Illustrator
Our analysis shows clear differences in the European prison landscape:Turkey leads with an incarceration rate of 0.41%, while Liechtenstein represents the other extreme with 0.0151%. Germany is in the middle at 0.0689%, slightly above the European average. Fascinatingly, while Western Europe has lower rates, Balkan and Eastern European countries dominate the higher ranks.
There are also surprises when it comes to prison escapes: France and Austria stand out with high rates. The European prison system shows clear regional differences – and remains a challenge.
Does the data for France includes the “refugee detainment centers” in which the guards would pretty much look the other way because they know they’ll catch a dingy to the UK?
It’s always beautiful when data fits nice historically.
I’d like to see escape rate per attempt.
Are French prisons based on the honor system?
Why is Germany yellow?
It seems that the statistics for France include escapes after sentence adjustments. For example, prisoners who are only required to return to prison at night to sleep.
Also, those placed under electronic monitoring who do not comply with their house detention rules.
I think the majority of the statistics do not represent escapes as we typically imagine them.
0.5 people escaped from a Hungarian prison, must have been messy.
As always with absurd data like this, they’re more to the story… Like what is considered an escape.
I’m imagining a tv station in France that just airs Le Trou & A Man Escaped on a loop.
>1% is crazy.
Out of a 100 prisoners 1 is making it out.
Remove minimum level security escapes and I bet the Frogs are on par with everyone else.
Not sure how you came to these statistics. Using [this report](https://wp.unil.ch/space/files/2024/01/240111_SPACE-I_2022_FinalReport.pdf), page 108, you can find several countries with much higher rates, like the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden… The French newspaper [Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2023/10/25/prisons-en-france-histoires-de-detenus-qui-se-sont-fait-la-belle_6196341_4355770.html) used the same statistics to show that France is only ninth, not first, with Germany sitting at 60/10000.
This would mean you have the ”best chance of escaping” only if escapes were randomly distributed and mandatory
What this chart doesn’t show you is that even though it may be “easier” to escape French prisons, the French prison guards on duty will make it their life mission to find you and will commit suicide if you save his life.
It makes sense for the country that every July 14th celebrates taking a prison to liberate its prisoners
“France has had more recorded helicopter prison escape attempts than any other country, with at least 11”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_helicopter_prison_escapes?wprov=sfla1
This data is NOT beautiful
You can literally just walk out of some Finnish prisons. No walls whatsoever. I think prisons who are considered not dangerous are put to these facilities. Why they don’t escape? Because if you escape they put you to a proper prison next time (and for some, their prison isn’t actually too bad).
This may be a language difference, but in English, this would be prison security rather than prison safety.
Security is protection from intentional acts. Safety is protection from accidents.
Spent too long looking for the UK. Cries in Brexit.
I wish people would understand that ‘Europe’ and ‘The European Union’ are not the same thing.
In Finland if you get less than 2 years “prison” sentence, you serve it in “open” prison (avovankila). It means essentially “hotel” where you have to be present during the evening/night time. During day you can go to school/work.
[https://www.rikosseuraamus.fi/en/index/enforcement/servingaprisonsentence/studyinginprison.html](https://www.rikosseuraamus.fi/en/index/enforcement/servingaprisonsentence/studyinginprison.html)
[https://www.rikosseuraamus.fi/en/index/enforcement/servingaprisonsentence/workincomeanduseofmoney/civilianwork.html](https://www.rikosseuraamus.fi/en/index/enforcement/servingaprisonsentence/workincomeanduseofmoney/civilianwork.html)
Some still manage not to come back and thus “escape”.
From a normal prison (that is actually locked) inmates go to holidays (“prison leave”) and some don’t return and again “escape”.
[https://www.rikosseuraamus.fi/en/index/enforcement/servingaprisonsentence/visitsandcontactswiththeoutsideworld/prisonleaves.html](https://www.rikosseuraamus.fi/en/index/enforcement/servingaprisonsentence/visitsandcontactswiththeoutsideworld/prisonleaves.html)
So I think the “escape” doesn’t mean really escaping in the original sense of the word, but rather not returning voluntarily to prison after holiday/work/school day.
“Ze prisonèrs are escapíng! Raise ze alarm!”
*But I’m le tired*
“Fine, take a nap, but then RAISE ZE ALARM!”
Take a chance when in France!
https://preview.redd.it/ob3plexkkaoe1.jpeg?width=630&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b08ecda0b6cc06a06678e3482c977ac7ae1cd539
In Austria, we had some rather funny excapes lately. Look at this shawshank redemption move here.
Makes Catch Me If You Can a little less riveting.
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