Rankings in Global Index · 9.4 Security, Criminal Justice, and Academic Freedom

The criterion is partially established.

Mexico recorded a national prison occupancy level of 117.8% as of May 31, 2026. The prison population stood at 268,245 people against an aggregate official capacity of 227,658 spaces, representing an excess of 40,587 people and confirming national prison overcrowding.

The territorial review shows that the phenomenon is not evenly distributed. Using official end-2024 data, Puebla, Oaxaca, and Mexico City were below their aggregate capacity, while Chiapas recorded occupancy of 116.50%, Sonora 140.27%, Morelos 140.04%, and the State of Mexico and Nayarit 238.78%. These results confirm severe territorial concentrations, although they do not imply that every facility within each state experienced the same conditions.

Mexico maintains periodic administrative monitoring of prison population and capacity, but the existence of this system does not itself resolve national overcrowding or the documented state-level disparities. The criterion is therefore partially established: operational information is available and some territorial systems remain below capacity, but significant aggregate overcrowding and extremely high occupancy persist in several states.