Deep dives · Prisons
Foreign nationals in Italian prisons
The share of foreign nationals is far higher in prison than among people living in Italy. Where they come from, what they are held for, and why the comparison with residents needs care.
Foreign nationals in prison and among the people who live in Italy
Each small square is one person in a hundred: prisoners on the left, residents on the right. Foreign nationals are in blue.
How many, year by year
Prisoners held at year end, Italian and foreign nationals
People on 31 December
Foreign nationals per 100 prisoners and per 100 residents
Prisoners on 31 December; residents on 1 January, since 2019. Prisoners include people who do not live in Italy: the two shares are not like for like
Which countries foreign prisoners come from
Foreign prisoners by country of citizenship
Table: foreign prisoners by citizenship, all years
Citizenships over time
Regions, crimes, age and legal status
For which crimes: Italian and foreign nationals compared
Prisoners with at least one offence of this type per 100 prisoners in the same group. One person can have several offences, so the percentages do not add up.
Region by region
Age
Prisoners by age group, per 100 in their own group. The groups are not the same width: 18–20 is three years, 50–59 and 60–69 are ten
Legal status
People awaiting trial, or appealing to the appeal court or the Court of Cassation, do not have a final conviction, and under the Constitution are not considered guilty.
How to read these numbers
These are the people in prison at the end of the year, not admissions or convictions: people serving long sentences weigh more. And prisoners include people who do not live in Italy, so the foreign share in prison and the share among residents cannot be compared like for like.
How the numbers were built, and sources
Offences, and who is left out
The offences are those charged, including for people awaiting trial, and one person can have more than one. Minors are excluded: they are held in juvenile penal institutions.
Without a final conviction
People awaiting first trial, appealing, awaiting the Court of Cassation, or with several proceedings none of them final, as on the page on pre-trial detention.
Residents
Foreign residents are those on the population register on 1 January: they do not include people without a residence permit or passing through Italy.
Citizenships and groups
ISTAT lists individually only the countries with the most prisoners; the others are grouped by continent or area, following the source’s classification.
Sources
For the method behind the whole atlas: Methodology and sources.
More deep dives
How many returns are ordered, and how many carried out
Country by country, the orders to leave Italy and the returns actually carried out, year by year since 2008.
Read the deep dive Perception and realityHow unsafe we feel, and how unsafe we are
Fear of crime alongside reported crimes: in Italy as a whole, in the big cities and province by province.
Read the deep dive Unknown offendersHow many crimes remain without a known offender
How many reported crimes have a known offender: crime by crime, in the big cities and province by province.
Read the deep dive MinorsMinors reported and arrested
How many there are among the people reported, for which crimes and region by region: the numbers since 2004, their share since 2014.
Read the deep dive Pre-trial detentionIn prison before the verdict
How many people are held without a final conviction, and how much the State pays when custody turns out to be unjust, district by district.
Read the deep dive Prison by prisonHow full prisons are, and how many people die in them
Prison by prison, the people held and the places available month by month since 2019, and deaths in prison according to who counts them.
Read the deep dive TrialsFrom crime to verdict
How many cases prosecutors open, how long trials and appeals last, how many end because time runs out: district by district and court by court.
Read the deep dive Outside prisonSentences served outside prison
Probation, home detention, semi-liberty and probation before trial: how many people, how it has changed since 2014, region by region.
Read the deep dive