How many people are imprisoned in Portugal?

Portugal's prison population is 13,475 people. This figure aggregates all forms of detention counted by the source: sentenced prisoners, pre-trial detainees, and administrative detentions.

What is the incarceration rate in Portugal?

Portugal's incarceration rate is approximately 124 people per 100,000 population.

How many prisons are there in Portugal?

World Prisons indexes 128 individual facilities in Portugal. Each entry links to a detail page with contact information, capacity, oversight reports, and known conditions.

All countries

Europe · Southern Europe

Portugal

Q: Does Portugal have the death penalty?

Portugal's death-penalty status is: abolitionist. Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

High confidence

Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 1 May 2026

Fresh · 2mo ago

Compare Portugal World Prison Brief page

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

Prison population

13,475

Year: 2026

Rate per 100,000

124

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

106%

Above design capacity

Pre-trial / remand

24.5%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

7.3%

Foreign nationals

18.3%

Figures from official sources · verified 20 May 2026 · methodology

Conditions risk — across 128 facilities

Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk

—

national average

128 unknown

abolitionist on capital punishment since 1976. Last known execution: 1849.ICCPR-OP2 (death-penalty abolition protocol): signatory

Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

Source: Amnesty International + Cornell Death Penalty Worldwide.

57 documented human-rights cases →

How Portugal compares

vs Europe (16) & global averages

Rate per 100,000this: 124 · region: 107 · global: 214

Occupancy ratethis: 106% · region: 96% · global: 125%

Pre-trial sharethis: 25% · region: 28% · global: 32%

The vertical ticks mark the global (grey) and regional (amber) means. Bars are clipped at the high end for readability.

Prison population over time

Annual figures, latest survey year

2000: 12,944-4.5% over 25y2025: 12,360

Source: World Prison Brief / unodc / eurostat / Council of Europe SPACE I

Health & mortality

Custodial mortality + prison-health indicators aggregated from national statistics offices, UCLA custodial mortality dataset, and Marshall Project COVID tracking.

Indicators (latest by source)

Hcv Prevalence
965count
2020 · source: who-hiped
Hiv Prevalence
442count
2020 · source: who-hiped
Mortality Rate
184.02per_100k_pa
2020 · source: who-hiped

Reform in Portugal

All reform →

Laws, programmes, and pilots changing how Portugal incarcerates — plus relevant research.

Drug decriminalisation2001–ongoing
alternatives · active
Portugal decriminalised possession of small quantities of all drugs in 2001, redirecting users from criminal courts to Dissuasion Commissions which can refer them to treatment. Drug supply remains criminalised.

—

Held

—

See all 128 prisons in Portugal →

Data completeness

90%

Score based on how many fields are populated. We surface this so you know where the gaps are.

National population: 10,900,0002026
Source-verified: 20 May 2026
Source links: 2 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.

Primary reference
World Prison Brief (ICPS, Birkbeck) — Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research
Council of Europe â SPACE statistics — Council of Europe
See /data-sources for our methodology.

ISO 3166-1 alpha-3: PRT

Cite this page

Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.

APA

World Prisons. (2026). Portugal — prison statistics. Retrieved July 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/countries/portugal

Chicago

"Portugal — prison statistics." World Prisons. Accessed July 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/countries/portugal.

BibTeX

@misc{worldprisons-portugal,
  author = {{World Prisons}},
  title = {Portugal — prison statistics},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://worldprisons.com/countries/portugal},
  urldate = {2026-07-20}
}

Conditions risk — across 128 facilities

How Portugal compares

Prison population over time

Health & mortality

Reform in Portugal

Prisons in Portugal

Antiga Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Sintra

Antiga Cadeia Municipal e armazéns anexos

Antiga prisao

Antiga Prisao de Castro Verde

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Ãbidos

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Ãvora Monte

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de CabeÃ§o de Vide

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Freixo de NumÃ£o

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Refojos de Basto

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de SÃ£o JoÃ£o da Pesqueira

CÃ¢mara Municipal, Tribunal e Cadeia de Marialva

Cadeia Civil de Valenca

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ da Horta / Cadeia de Apoio da Horta

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Arganil

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Cantanhede / Posto da GNR, Guarda Nacional Republicana

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Estremoz

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Felgueiras

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Lagos

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de MelgaÃ§o

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Pombal

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Soure

Cadeia Comarca de Cinfaes

Cadeia Comarca de Leiria

Cadeia Comarcã de Oliveira de Azeméis

Data completeness

Sources

Cite this page

Conditions risk — across 128 facilities

How Portugal compares

Prison population over time

Health & mortality

Reform in Portugal

Prisons in Portugal

Antiga Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Sintra

Antiga Cadeia Municipal e armazéns anexos

Antiga prisao

Antiga Prisao de Castro Verde

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Ãbidos

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Ãvora Monte

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de CabeÃ§o de Vide

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Freixo de NumÃ£o

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Refojos de Basto

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de SÃ£o JoÃ£o da Pesqueira

CÃ¢mara Municipal, Tribunal e Cadeia de Marialva

Cadeia Civil de Valenca

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ da Horta / Cadeia de Apoio da Horta

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Arganil

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Cantanhede / Posto da GNR, Guarda Nacional Republicana

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Estremoz

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Felgueiras

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Lagos

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de MelgaÃ§o

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Pombal

Cadeia ComarcÃ£ de Soure

Cadeia Comarca de Cinfaes

Cadeia Comarca de Leiria

Cadeia Comarcã de Oliveira de Azeméis

Data completeness

Sources

Cite this page

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Ãbidos

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Ãvora Monte

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Ãbidos

CÃ¢mara Municipal e Cadeia de Ãvora Monte