Georgia ranks 4th among Council of Europe member states in the number of prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants. This is according to the annual Council of Europe report “Prisons and Prisoners in Europe,” which analyzes prison population trends across the region.
The study indicates that the highest incarceration rates continue to be recorded in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, where custodial sentences are more frequently applied:
- Turkey leads the scale with 458 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants;
- followed by Azerbaijan (271), Moldova (245), and Georgia (232).
The data is provided as of January 31, 2025. At that time, 8,592 people were being held in Georgian prisons.
At the same time, the report notes that several countries with populations of over 1 million recorded a significant decline in their incarceration rates in 2024–2025. In addition to Albania, this list includes:
- Ukraine — the rate decreased by 18%;
- Slovakia — by 16%;
- Georgia — by 11%;
- Estonia — by 9.8%;
- Poland — by 6%.