Greece migrant crime and foreign prisoner statistics
How much more likely foreign citizens are to be in prison in Greece than Greek citizens, year by year, from Eurostat prison and population statistics, and how Greece ranks against the rest of Europe.
Explore Greece on the interactive mapForeign prisoners in Greece: 2009–2024
In 2024, foreign citizens in Greece were 14× as likely to be in prison as Greek citizens and made up 52.0% of prisoners. That ranks Greece 1 of 31 European countries, against a median of 3.1×.
| Year | Times as likely | Prisoners foreign | Population foreign |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 14× | 52.0% | 7.1% |
| 2023 | 15× | 54.3% | 7.3% |
| 2022 | 17× | 57.2% | 7.3% |
| 2021 | 18× | 58.9% | 7.4% |
| 2020 | 18× | 59.8% | 7.5% |
| 2019 | 17× | 58.0% | 7.6% |
| 2018 | 14× | 54.6% | 7.7% |
| 2017 | 13× | 52.9% | 7.8% |
| 2016 | 14× | 54.3% | 7.9% |
| 2015 | 14× | 55.0% | 8.0% |
| 2014 | 16× | 58.3% | 8.1% |
| 2013 | 17× | 60.1% | 8.3% |
| 2012 | 19× | 63.1% | 8.4% |
| 2011 | 19× | 63.2% | 8.4% |
| 2010 | 15× | 58.4% | 8.4% |
| 2009 | 14× | 55.5% | 8.4% |
Foreign prisoner rates across Europe: where Greece ranks
- 1Greece14×
- 2Croatia9.0×
- 3Slovenia8.8×
- 4Switzerland6.8×
- 5Liechtenstein5.8×
- 6Belgium5.1×
- 7Italy4.8×
- 8Austria4.6×
- 9Finland4.3×
- 10Slovakia3.9×
- 11Cyprus3.7×
- 12Luxembourg3.5×
- 13France3.4×
- 14Iceland3.2×
- 15Poland3.2×
- 16Spain3.1×
- 17Sweden3.1×
- 18Norway2.9×
- 19Netherlands2.9×
- 20Malta2.8×
- 21Denmark2.8×
- 22Estonia2.3×
- 23Turkey2.2×
- 24Portugal1.9×
- 25Bulgaria1.7×
- 26Hungary1.6×
- 27Ireland1.1×
- 28Czech Republic0.9×
- 29Lithuania0.8×
- 30Romania0.7×
- 31Latvia0.4×
Greece migrant crime: common questions
- How many prisoners in Greece are foreign citizens?
- In 2024, 52.0% of prisoners in Greece held a foreign citizenship, while foreign citizens made up 7.1% of the population. That makes a foreign citizen 14× as likely to be in prison as a Greek citizen (Eurostat).
- How does Greece compare with the rest of Europe?
- Greece ranks 1 of 31 European countries by how much more likely foreign citizens are to be in prison than citizens. The median across those countries in 2024 was 3.1×.
- Does Greece publish crime or rape statistics by nationality?
- Greece is not one of the four countries covered here (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany) whose official sources publish rape, sexual offence or violent crime rates by country of birth or migrant background in a form that can be compared per capita. The comparable measure for Greece is Eurostat prison statistics by citizenship, shown on this page.
- What are the crime statistics for illegal migrants in Europe?
- No European country publishes a reliable per-capita crime rate for illegal migrants alone, because people without legal residence are not counted in the population figures needed to calculate a rate. Most official rates count registered residents by country of birth or citizenship. Germany comes closest: its police statistics (PKS) report an immigrant category (Zuwanderer) that includes asylum seekers, refugees, tolerated persons and people staying without permission. Foreign-citizen prison counts on the map can also include people without legal residence held on remand or awaiting deportation.
- How are foreign prisoner rates calculated?
- For each country, the share of prisoners holding a foreign citizenship is divided by the foreign share of the population, using Eurostat data. The result shows how many times as likely a foreign citizen is to be in prison as a citizen. Prison figures reflect sentencing, remand and deportation practice as well as offending.