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In order to make the data comparable, Eurostat has expressed the number of offenders in relation to each country's population. Compared to other countries in the region, Albania has a record high prison population. Following Albania is Montenegro with 179 prisoners. In Serbia, according to Eurostat, the number of prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants was 153, followed by North Macedonia with 146 inmates, while Kosovo numbered 90 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants. Across the European Union, the average number of prisoners per 100,000 population is 116, according to Eurostat, the lowest rate since 2000. In the European Union, the highest number of prisoners is in Lithuania with 231 prisoners per 100,000 population, followed by the Czech Republic with 209 prisoners per 100,000 population and Estonia with 206 prisoners.
In France, Austria and Germany, the number of prisoners is lower than the EU average, with respectively 103, 100 and 79 prisoners per 100,000, respectively.
In neighboring countries such as Italy and Greece, the number of inmates is estimated to be 97 and 93 per 100,000. Among the member states, the lowest number of prisoners is recorded in Iceland, where according to Eurostat the number of prisoners there was just 38 for every 100 thousand inhabitants. Then the Northern European countries, with Finland having only 56 inmates, followed by Sweden with 57 and Denmark with 59.