RA Penitentiary Service refutes reports on number of prisoners in  Armenia 

ArmInfo. The Criminal Correctional Service (CCS) of the Ministry of Justice of Armenia denies reports circulated by several media outlets that the country's prison population is ten times higher than officially reported, with  the actual number approaching 25,000. This was stated in a statement  distributed by the CCS on its Facebook page.

The agency called this information yet another information campaign  against the Republic and called on media outlets to refrain from  publications that distort the facts and mislead the public. "As of  November 24, 2025, 1,396 convicts were held in Armenian penal  institutions. For comparison, in 2010, the country's prison  population was almost three times that number. Official data is  regularly provided to international organizations and monitoring  bodies and is also published on the official website of the  Penitentiary Service, www.psa.am," the Penitentiary Service noted.

It is also noted that, according to the Council of Europe's annual  report on criminal statistics (SPACE I), as of January 1, 2024, the  prison population in Armenia was 82.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, which  is classified as low and effectively eliminates prison overcrowding.  Furthermore, it is noted that Armenia is among the countries with the  lowest prison population-to-prison-institution ratios. "Armenia's  penal institutions are under constant monitoring by the Prosecutor's  Office, the Human Rights Defender, monitoring groups, and  international partners. Information on problems, prison conditions,  renovations, and reforms can be obtained from these agencies, as well  as from official publications of the Ministry of Justice and the  Penal Service," the agency said in a statement.

The Penal Service also provided a table of statistics on the number  of prisoners in Armenia's prisons and deaths. -  https://psa.am/.../1791c8a94f3e0da3a214fe39d86516db-%D5.

According to human rights activists, more than two dozen prisoners  have died in Armenia's prisons this year. Of these, about a dozen  were suicides. Poor prison conditions, violations of universal human  rights, and other factors are cited as reasons for the deaths.