Episode details

Radio 4,11 Oct 2025,8 mins
Are 72% of prison inmates in Switzerland foreign?
More or Less: Behind the StatsAvailable for over a year
In a recent speech to the UN, US president Donald Trump set out some remarkable figures on the proportion of inmates in European prisons who were foreign nationals. Citing statistics from the Council of Europe, he references Greece, Germany and Austria, as having rates around 50%. 鈥淚n Switzerland, beautiful Switzerland,鈥 he said 鈥72% of the people in prisons are from outside of Switzerland.鈥 These numbers are correct, but why are the percentages so high 鈥 particularly in Switzerland? Tim Harford speaks to Professor Marcelo Aebi, a criminologist from the University of Lausanne, who wrote the prisons report for the Council of Europe. If you鈥檝e seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at, let us know: moreorless@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon
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