Italy's prison population has grown by over 2,500 inmates since 2016 against an increase in official capacity of 1,000 places over the same period, the National Guarantor for Persons Deprived of their Liberty, Mauro Palma, told parliament in his annual report on Thursday, Azernews reports, citing ANSA.

The number of detainees has risen from 54,653 in 2016 to 57,230 on June 1, 2023, Palma told the Lower House.

Of the current prison population, 2,504 are women.

The number of available prison places grew by 1,000 over the same period, the ombudsman added.

The percentage of foreign inmates fell from 34% to 31.2% between 2016 and June 2023, and the percentage of detainees not serving a definitive sentence has dropped from 35.2% to 26.1%.

On violence in prison, Palma told lawmakers magistrates are probing allegations of serious episodes of mistreatment and offenses against the dignity of prisoners, and that in some cases first-instance sentences have already been handed down.

However, the ombudsman said it is necessary to "look at the ability of our system to respond, in many cases including with the help of internal investigations by the prison administration".