Scotland has Busiest Prisons in Europe
14th September 2009
Recent research shows Scotland imprisons more individuals than any other member of the European Union, i.e. 157 per 100,000 citizens, with a total of 8,124 prisoners.
This compares with 153 per 100,000 in the rest of Britain.
The Scottish prison population has continued to increase over recent years in spite of a reduction in reported crime rates.
Our prisoner capacity is only 7,428, making our prisons overcrowded.
The research was undertaken by King's College, London.