In the document, Portugal ranks ninth among the countries with the biggest levels of overcrowding in prisons, exceeding prison capacity by 9 percent (109 percent), the same as in Italy and Serbia, and higher than in the Czech Republic (108 percent), Romania (106 percent) and Turkey (103 percent).
Among the countries with the highest overcrowding rates are Macedonia and Hungary, with 132 prisoners per 100 available places, Cyprus (127) and Belgium (120).
According to statistics, in 2016 European prisons were, overall, close to full capacity and the incarceration rate increased from 115.7 to 117.1 prisoners per 100,000 people.
Average prison time in Europe also increased to 8.5 months.
In relation to the Portuguese prison system, the statistics for 2016 showed that, on average, there were 133 people in prison per 100,000 inhabitants, and prisoners’ average age was 37.
The majority, or 16.7 per 100,000 people, are men, against 6.3 women per 100,000.
In Portugal, the majority of prisoners have been sentenced to an average of three years in prison (73.6 percent).
Drug trafficking remains the crime that is most often committed, accounting for 19.4 percent of the prison population, followed by robberies with 13 percent.
Murders sent 8.8 percent of prisoners to jail.