French Prisons Hit Record 89,668 Detainees

Overview

• Official Ministry of Justice statistics show 89,668 people were held in French prisons on 1 August 2026, a 6.5% rise from a year earlier.
• Operational capacity stood at 63,303 places on the same date, with 7,956 mattresses on the floor and a 175% occupancy rate in maisons d'arrêt.
• The Ministry of Justice has proposed 3,000 extra modular prison places with half expected by 2027 while less than one third of the 15,000 places promised in 2018 have been delivered.
• The Council of Europe described the situation as risking an 'entrepôt humain' and Contrôleur général Dominique Simonnot said building alone is insufficient, estimating one new centre would need to open every six weeks to absorb current growth.
• The overcrowding most affects maisons d'arrêt, which hold people awaiting trial and short-sentence inmates, raising legal and human-rights concerns and increasing pressure for measures such as sentence adjustments or space conversions used in other countries.