The percentage of foreign inmates in Italian jails was 33.42% at the end of June, down from 37.1% 10 years ago, the Antigone prison-rights association said in a new report on Thursday.
"It is clear that the media overestimates the issue (of crime by foreigners)," the report said.
It said Italy's prisons were at 119.8% of capacity, making them the most overcrowded in the European Union, according to the report. It said the prison population has grown even though the number of people being sent to jail is down, due to stiffer sentences.
The report said 23,442 people were sent to jail in the first half of this year, down from 24,380 in the equivalent period last year and 25,144 in the first six months of 2017.
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