The cost of holding inmates in prison has more than doubled over the past decade, with Corradino Correctional Facility now costing taxpayers almost €24 million a year to operate.

Running costs in 2010 of around €9 million per year have gradually crept up, with the most significant spike in expenditure from 2018 onwards, when costs shot up from €15 million a year to €23.9 million in 2020. 

While the bulk of spending has gone towards recurring expenses, the data shows that authorities have also significantly upped capital expenditure at CCF: the €1.6 million spent at CCF on such costs in 2020 was more than was spent between 2010 and 2016.

The data about CCF expenditure was tabled in parliament on Monday by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, following a question by Opposition MP Chris Said. 

Camilleri told parliament that the Corradino prison currently hosts 736 inmates, with 320 Maltese prisoners and 416, or 57 per cent, being non-Maltese. 

Each prisoner costs taxpayers around €100 a day, the minister said. 

Malta’s prison has ballooned in size over the past 10 years. 

Figures of CCF expenditure between 2010 and 2020, tabled in parliament.Figures of CCF expenditure between 2010 and 2020, tabled in parliament.

Rising prison population

Statistics published by the Crime Malta observatory indicate that prison’s population has been steadily growing over the past 20 years, rising from 252 inmates at the turn of the century to 584 by 2010 and more than 800 last year. 

The country’s incarceration rate has also been on the rise, indicating that the prison population is rising at a faster rate than the general population.  While in 2012 the country imprisoned 149 people per 100,000 residents, in 2020 that rate stood at 154. 

Prisoners jailed for drug offences

Separate data provided in parliament on Monday showed that there are currently 100 prisoners serving time for drug-related crimes. 

Just over one-third of them – 34 inmates – are serving sentences for conspiracy to traffic drugs while another 28 are in jail for trafficking and possession of drugs. 

Prisoners for drug-related offences as of June 2021: 

• 34 for conspiracy to traffic drugs
• 28 for drug possession and trafficking
• 15 for drug possession with intent to supply
• 11 for drug possession
• 10 for drug importation
• Two for drug cultivation 

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