The number of women serving sentences at the Corradino Correctional Facility (CCF) has spiked to almost 60, the highest figure in more than 15 years.

According to figures in the Annual Crime Report published last week, the list of women in prison at the end of last year had 58 names, up from 37 in the previous year.

Criminologist Saviour Formosa, who was tasked with drawing up the report, analysed the prison population since 2001, with the annual report also giving an overview of the inmates’ nationalities, dating as far back as the 1950s.

According to the figures, the number of female inmates has been steadily on the rise since 2005, when there were only 14 women at Corradino.

The prison population has been on the rise for several years.

The men’s divisions are also known to be full, and according to the report, there were 533 inmates at the end of last year, bringing the total number of prisoners at the CCF to 591. In the previous year, the figure stood at 553 inmates, after going down from 566 in 2015.

According to Prof. Formosa, the highest number of prisoners last year was recorded on December 8, when 599 inmates were at the correctional facility.

According to the data, since 2010 the majority of non-Maltese inmates came from Somalia and Libya. A significant number were from Italy while a number of Romanians have also been serving sentences at the CCF in recent years.

This, Prof. Formosa said, marked a change from previous years, when the majority of foreigners at the prison came from Libya and only a small group from Somalia.

On the changes in the prisoners’ nationalities, Prof. Formosa said that migration trends tended to have an impact. Changes in certain crime trends, such as drug routes for instance, also had an effect on the nationalities of those serving time at the prison, he said.