Switzerland’s prison population reached a record high in early 2026 while the number of short unconditional prison sentences fell to a historic low, data released today by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) show, Anadolu reports.

A total of 7,119 people were incarcerated in Switzerland as of January 31, the highest number recorded since the survey began in the year. 1988, the office said in a statement.

Despite the increase, the incarceration rate relative to the country’s population remains lower than it was a decade ago, the office noted.

Among those detained, 63 percent were serving sentences or court-ordered measures, including pretrial detention, while 31 percent were being held in pretrial detention or security custody. The remaining six percent were incarcerated for other reasons.

According to the data, Switzerland’s 90 operational detention centers had 7,373 vacancies, bringing the occupancy rate to 97 percent. The office reported 111,962 criminal convictions for adults in the criminal records system in 2025.

More than half of the convictions, 57,150 cases, involved violations of road traffic laws. Of the 38,406 sentences under the Swiss Penal Code, nearly half related to crimes against property while 12 percent involved crimes against life and bodily integrity and 3 percent related to sexual offenses.

The number of short sentences with unconditional imprisonment fell to 2,937 in 2025, the lowest level since Switzerland introduced monetary penalties in 2007. as an alternative to short prison sentences, according to the FSO.

Cash fines remained the country’s most common sanction, imposed 78,693 times in 2025. Authorities said suspended sentences are later revoked in only 7 percent of cases, although they are almost always accompanied by a non-custodial fine.

The statistics office said that in 2025 they were ordered 2,272 deportations, 94 percent of them were compulsory. More than half were settled for periods longer than five years while 37 percent of deportees were citizens of EU countries.

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Source: prizrenpost