The Council of Europe’s Annual Penal Statistics on Prison Populations (SPACE I) show that, on 31 January 2024, there were 1,021,431 inmates detained in the 51 prison administrations of Council of Europe member states, representing a median prison population rate of 105 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants across the continent. Considering prison administrations from countries with a population exceeding one million inhabitants that submitted data for both 2023 and 2024, the median European prison population rate slightly decreased, from 116.2 to 115.1 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants (-0.9%). Thirteen prison administrations experienced a significant increase in their prison population rates, including Slovenia, Sweden, Malta, Serbia, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Italy, Albania, the UK, Belgium and Ireland. Incarceration rates fell substantially only in Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Türkiye, Estonia, Lithuania and Hungary. The countries with the highest incarceration rates were: Türkiye (356 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants), Azerbaijan (264), Georgia (261), Republic of Moldova (235), Poland (202), Hungary (195), Albania (192), Czechia (180), Slovakia (179), Serbia (177), Latvia (175) and Montenegro (164). Other countries with high incarceration rates include Lithuania (158), the UK (England and Wales) (145), and North Macedonia (143).