50 prisons from 47 member states of the Council of Europe took part in the research, which includes figures from the years 2014 and 2013. In that period there were 1.522 prisoners in Slovenia, that's 74 prisoners per 100.000 citizens.

The European average is 124 prisoners per 100.000 citizens, which puts Slovenia well below the European average. However despite that, the percentage of prisoners per 100.000 citizens has been constantly growing since 2005. Among the countries with the lowest number of prisoners are also San Marino, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Finland, The Netherlands, Denmark, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Andorra and Norway.

Eighth regarding overcrowding
Less encouraging are the statistics for prison overcrowding, where Slovenia places eighth. In 2013 there were 118 prisoners per 100 places in prison, while the European average was 99 prisoners per 100 available places. Among the countries with most overcrowded prisons are also Hungary, Belgium, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Spain, France, Portugal, Serbia and Italy.

Slovenia spends a daily average of 64 euros per prisoner, while the European average is 45 euros per day. The lowest costs were recorded in Ukraine, where they spend 2,7 euros per prisoner. At the same time Norway and Sweden spend 358 and 356 euros per day for every prisoner.

L. L.; translated by K. J.