Ten out of the sixteen federal states in Germany currently report that their prisons are fully occupied. This finding emerged from a survey conducted by “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (the Friday edition) among the respective state justice authorities.
The situation in ten states has worsened since the last survey conducted in the summer of 2025. Only in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Saarland did the occupancy rate of correctional facilities decrease. Hamburg maintained an occupancy of 96 percent.
In specialized circles, full capacity is generally considered to be reached when occupancy hits between 85 and 90 percent, as not all detention spaces are usable for all types of custodial sentences, and time must be accounted for renovations and structural modifications.
Nationwide, the data provided by the state justice authorities indicates an average occupancy of slightly above 86 percent of prison places in the spring of 2026. Only the state of Bremen recorded an occupancy exceeding 100 percent, with a figure of 103 percent as of March 1. Overall, occupancy rates above 90 percent were recorded around the respective reporting dates between March and April 2026 in Rhineland-Palatinate (97.2 percent), Hamburg (96 percent), Baden-Württemberg (92.93 percent), Hessen (91.9 percent), and Saarland (91.47 percent).
Even in every federal state, there is at least one prison facility that is fully occupied, with its places utilized above 85 percent. Some individual institutions were significantly overcrowded, even when including the less busy open custody system. Baden-Württemberg’s correctional facilities in Rottweil (with an occupancy rate of 125 percent), Offenburg (114 percent), and Ravensburg (113 percent) were particularly strongly or excessively oversubscribed.
“RND” polled all sixteen state justice ministries. The figures were requested on April 29, 2026; although some authorities provided daily figures, others supplied data from earlier reporting dates in March or April. The statistics compiled cover men, women, and juveniles in both closed and open custody systems, encompassing those serving prison sentences or those incarcerated for other reasons.
