There are 69,158 detainees and just 44,868 beds, according to Leo Beneduci, secretary general for Osapp, a penitentiary police union. He says prison guards are overworked.
"The data...is more than worrisome," he said, adding that the government must find a way to increase funding for the Italian penal system. In an effort to relieve overcrowding, the Italian government in 2006 released around 5,000 prisoners.
Overcrowding is cited as a factor contributing to a recent spate of prison suicides.
It has been estimated Italy's prison population could reach 100,000 by 2012.