Portugal: prison numbers up 19% in six years to 2016; female inmates up 39%

According to the ministry’s Directorate-General of Justice Policy (DGPJ), the increase “is not uniform”, given that the number of female inmates jumped 38.6% in the period, while the number of male inmates rose 17.5%.

The figures also show that there has been a slight increase in the proportion of inmates aged over 40, although the largest number of prisoners are still in the 25 to 39 age range.