French prisons had 63,802 detainees on February 1, a number up from the previous month, according to statistics from the Ministry of Justice consulted by AFP on Monday, March 1.
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There were 62,673 detainees as of January 1.
The increase was 1,129 people between January and February.
With 60,783 operational places in 188 prisons in France, the overall prison density stood at 105% on February 1, against 103.4% the previous month.
This density is 122.7% in remand centers, where prisoners awaiting trial and those sentenced to short sentences are held.
As of February 1, 740 detainees were forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor.
This number, which measures overcrowding, has been on the rise for several months (422 mattresses placed on the floor on July 1, 587 on October 1 and 688 on January 1).
Among the detainees, 18,659 are warned, that is to say imprisoned while awaiting trial, ie a little less than a third of the prison population.
The number of women imprisoned is up 4% over one month, as is that of minors (+ 2.2%).
A total of 76,999 people were taken into custody on February 1, including 13,197 who were not detained and were placed under electronic surveillance or placed outside.
The prison population had experienced a significant and unprecedented decline during the spring 2020 confinement, due to a reduction in delinquency and early release measures taken by the government to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic in detention .
The number of detainees had thus fallen from 72,575 on March 16, 2020 - a record - to 59,463 two months later.
The prison population has exceeded 62,000 prisoners since October.
