As of October 1, 2026, 461 foreign citizens are held in penitentiary institutions in Armenia. Among them, Iranian citizens are the most numerous.
Modern.az reports that the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of Armenia stated this in response to an inquiry from “Sputnik Armenia”.
According to the information, there are 135 Iranian citizens in Armenian prisons. Russia is in second place with 73 people, and India is in third place with 55 people.
Bangladeshi citizens also attract attention in terms of numbers. Thus, 34 citizens of this country are held in Armenian prisons. The number of Georgian citizens is 25, and the number of Afghan citizens is 15.
The list released by the Penitentiary Service is as follows:
|
Country |
Number of prisoners |
|---|---|
|
Iran |
135 |
|
Russia |
73 |
|
India |
55 |
|
Bangladesh |
34 |
|
Georgia |
25 |
|
Afghanistan |
15 |
|
Egypt |
10 |
|
Turkey |
9 |
|
Ukraine |
8 |
|
Algeria |
7 |
|
Tajikistan |
6 |
|
Iraq |
6 |
|
Lebanon |
5 |
|
Uzbekistan |
5 |
|
China |
5 |
|
Turkmenistan |
4 |
|
Syria |
4 |
|
Yemen |
4 |
|
Indonesia |
4 |
|
Moldova |
3 |
|
Netherlands |
3 |
|
USA |
3 |
|
Peru |
3 |
|
Belarus |
2 |
|
Kazakhstan |
2 |
|
Sudan |
2 |
|
Palestine |
2 |
|
Cuba |
2 |
|
Other countries |
1 |
In addition, individuals with Russian and Georgian, Turkish and Algerian, Lebanese and Venezuelan, Moldovan and Romanian, Iranian and British citizenship are also on the list.
Countries represented by a single person include Morocco, Sierra Leone, Congo, Republic of South Africa, Serbia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Switzerland, France, Poland, South Korea, Brazil, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
The number of foreign prisoners has sharply increased in recent years
It is noted that the number of foreign prisoners held in Armenia has significantly increased in recent years.
Thus, in 2022, the Armenian Penitentiary Service stated that there were 135 foreign citizens in the country's prisons.
According to data as of the end of January 2026, this number had reached 318 people.
Compared to 2022, the number of foreign prisoners has increased more than 3 times, reaching 461 people.
