Rustam Badasyan: Armenia Has One of the Lowest Rates of Incarceration per 100,000 Population

The Council of Europe has published its annual crime statistics for 2020. Armenia has reinforced several indicators noted in previous statistics, ensuring their stability. According to a post by Armenia's Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan on his Facebook page,

“According to the report, there has been a decrease in the level of incarceration in Armenia compared to other CoE countries. In 2018, there were 3,536 individuals held in Armenian penal institutions, which dropped to 2,266 in 2019, and as of January 31, 2020, there were 2,221 individuals.”

The report also draws comparisons between 2010 and 2020, noting that Armenia has recorded a 50.4% reduction in its prison population compared to 2010, marking the second-best result in the comparative table.

According to the same report, Armenia currently ranks among the lowest countries for the number of incarcerated individuals per 100,000 population, comparable to Germany, Denmark, Slovenia, and Sweden.

In 2020, the percentage of female prisoners in Armenia was 3.1% of the total, which is again lower than the European average.

Another positive indicator for Armenia is that in terms of prison population density per 100 places, it ranks among the lowest countries with a density of 41.5%. This is nearly half the European average of 86.6%.

Statistical data is presented as of January 31, 2020; therefore, observations made by us at the end of 2020 suggest that Armenia will again record progress in certain indicators in the next year’s statistics,” Badasyan wrote.