Azerbaijan and Georgia among Europe's top jailers, report finds

Azerbaijan and Georgia have recorded some of the highest incarceration rates in Europe, according to a major report by the Council of Europe (CoE).

The SPACE I 2025 report, which examined 51 prison systems across member states as of 31 January 2025, ranked Azerbaijan second and Georgia fourth for their per capita prison populations.

Turkey recorded the highest incarceration rate with 458 inmates per 100,000 people. Azerbaijan followed with 270, while Georgia recorded 232.

The findings come as the total number of prisoners across CoE member countries surpassed 1.1 million.

Rising numbers in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan's prison population has risen steadily over the last five years, growing from 208.7 per 100,000 people in 2020 to 270.6 in 2025.

The country also has the second-longest average prison sentence in Europe at 36 months, which is four times the continental average and surpassed only by Ukraine's average of 39 months.

With 98 prisoners per 100 available spaces, Azerbaijani prisons are classified as having "near-full occupancy". About 17% of those detained are being held in pre-trial detention centres.

Officials in Baku declined to provide data on staff-to-inmate ratios, stating that such statistics are classified under domestic legislation.

In 2024, Azerbaijan spent €113.8m ($132m) on its prison system.

Incarceration falling in Georgia

By contrast, Georgia has seen its prison population decline by 15.5% over the past year, dropping from 260.7 inmates per 100,000 in 2024 to 231.9 in 2025.

The Georgian average prison term is 14 months, significantly lower than that of Azerbaijan.

However, the CoE report noted that the staff-to-prisoner ratio in Georgia remains "very high", exceeding the European median value by more than 25%.

Georgia spent €82.4m ($95.5m) on its prison budget in 2024.

The proportion of female prisoners was higher in Georgia at 4.4% (377 inmates) than in Azerbaijan, where women made up 3.1% of the total (863 inmates).