Overview

• As of May 1, French prisons held 83,681 inmates against 62,570 operational places for a nationwide density of 133.7%.
• Twenty-three facilities report occupancy above 200%, with pre-trial detention centers operating at 163.2% capacity.
• Human rights groups warn that overcrowding has driven 5,234 inmates to sleep on mattresses on the floor and undermines healthcare and safety.
• Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has called conditions “unacceptable” and is pushing modular prison construction alongside differentiated facilities and foreign inmate expulsions.
• The government is exploring renting cells in Eastern Europe and plans a new 500-bed ultra-secure unit in French Guiana to relieve chronic overcrowding.