According to the agency, as of October 1, 434,303 convicts were in correctional colonies of the penal system, while at the beginning of the year there were more than 463,000.
The largest decline was recorded in the Sverdlovsk region, Perm and Krasnoyarsk Territories.
In addition, the number of people held in pre-trial detention centers dropped below 100 thousand people and amounted to 98 301 people at the beginning of the month.
“It should be noted that the number of convicts, suspects and accused detained in the penitentiary system has by now reached the minimum value in the history of Russia,” the report said.
Earlier, the service announced an increase in the number of prisoners who wished to get higher education.