Courts convicted more than 900 people of drug trafficking and possession offences in Cyprus in 2025, according to Anti-Drugs Unit (YKAN) data.
Courts, particularly the Criminal Courts, continue to hand down tough sentences. Traffickers keep importing large quantities of drugs in pursuit of quick profit regardless. Frequent seizures by YKAN and arrests of dealers are reflected in the rising number of convictions that result in prison time. The accumulation of drug offenders in the Central Prisons in recent years has worsened the prison system’s overcrowding problem.
YKAN data show 877 drug cases were filed last year and 941 were heard, including some pending from previous years. Of these, courts handed down various prison sentences to 232 people, suspended prison sentences to 137 people and fines to 558 people.
Courts imposed a financial guarantee on 21 people, issued custody orders for 17, supervision orders for three and a suspended movement restriction order for one. Two people were acquitted and discharged.
Those jailed received sentences ranging from a few months to more than 10 years. Cyprus currently holds 230 people in prison for drug-related offences, while another 79 are on remand for similar offences.
Drug offenders now make up the largest group of prisoners in Cyprus, ahead of those held for sexual offences, who number around 170, and those convicted of property crimes. Crimes against life also account for a significant number of prisoners: 47 are held for premeditated murder and 36 for manslaughter, a combined total of 83.
The Council of Europe’s annual SPACE I 2025 penal statistics, published last month, show that 20% of prisoners in Cyprus are held for drug offences, while the country also has a high proportion of foreign prisoners.
More than half of Cyprus’s prison population, 54%, are non-Cypriot citizens, giving the country one of the highest rates of foreign prisoners in Europe. Only Luxembourg and Switzerland recorded higher rates.
Cyprus also stands out for having one of the youngest prison populations in Europe, with an average age of 35, matching France and Denmark. That places Cyprus behind Sweden, where the average is 34, and Moldova, at 30. The European average age for prisoners was 39.
By comparison, 27% of prisoners in Cyprus were held in pre-trial detention, slightly above the European average of 26%. The highest pre-trial detention rates were recorded in Albania, Montenegro and Armenia.
