List of countries by incarceration rate

Last updated

This is an alphabetical list of countries and some dependent territories and subnational areas which lays out the incarceration rate of each. [1]

Contents

Prison population rates from World Prison Brief. See date on map. World map of prison population rates from World Prison Brief.svg
Prison population rates from World Prison Brief. See date on map.

Incarceration rates and counts

The World Prison Brief (WPB) may or may not incorporate juvenile incarceration numbers into the totals for each country, dependent territory, or subnational area. The data below is the latest available at WPB at the time the data was copied here. See the individual WPB country and subnational area pages for more info on data, dates, juvenile numbers, and much more. [1] See the Notes section below too. It has info on the United Kingdom, etc..

Asterisk (*) indicates "Incarceration in LOCATION" or "Crime in LOCATION" links.
Note: Table data fully updated Oct 22, 2024. Some individual countries since then.
Note: See N/A definition. "Not available" in this case.
Rates are per 100,000 inhabitants.Counts are the number of incarcerated.

Incarceration counts and rates (per 100,000). World Prison Brief
LocationRates [2] Counts [3]
Afghanistan4519,000
Albania1684,565
Algeria21794,749
American Samoa (USA)538301
Andorra6051
Angola6824,490
Anguilla (United Kingdom)24036
Antigua and Barbuda400400
Argentina254117,810
Armenia832,469
Aruba (Netherlands)288311
Australia15741,929
Austria1019,275
Azerbaijan24424,698
Bahamas4091,617
Bahrain2343,485
Bangladesh5084,851
Barbados258743
Belarus34532,556
Belgium10412,316
Belize2891,199
Benin13818,170
Bermuda (United Kingdom)200124
Bhutan1451,119
Bolivia20925,291
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Federation791,688
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Republika Srpska44524
Botswana1613,971
Brazil392850,377
Brunei Darussalam186841
Bulgaria996,378
Burkina Faso398,800
Burundi10313,824
Cambodia25745,122
Cameroon11632,003
Canada9035,485
Cape Verde (Cabo Verde)3662,100
Cayman Islands (United Kingdom)277226
Central African Republic522,678
Chad598,700
Chile30658,248
China1191,690,000
Colombia200103,530
Comoros46422
Congo (Republic of)271,388
Cook Islands (New Zealand)22447
Costa Rica34317,829
Cote d'Ivoire9125,928
Croatia1154,445
Cuba79490,000
Curaçao (Netherlands)261429
Cyprus (Republic of)103966
Czech Republic17919,649
Democratic Republic of Congo4644,536
Denmark694,083
Djibouti710662 c. 662
Dominica348261
Dominican Republic23125,987
Ecuador18033,472
Egypt116120,000
El Salvador1 659109,519
Equatorial Guinea63500
Estonia1291,805
Eswatini/Swaziland2433,405
Ethiopia99110,000
Faeroe Islands (Denmark)2312
Fiji2482,276
Finland522,912
France11578,509
French Guiana/Guyane (France)3101,022
French Polynesia (France)200575
Gabon2285,226
Gambia22543
Georgia27510,523
Germany6857,955
Ghana4214,361
Gibraltar (United Kingdom)27392
Greece9810,242
Greenland (Denmark)241136
Grenada338385
Guadeloupe (France)230916
Guam (USA)475820
Guatemala12323,361
Guernsey (United Kingdom)14395
Guinea (Republic of)344,375
Guinea Bissau31596
Guyana2712,156
Haiti637,523
Honduras18919,500
Hong Kong (China)1219,079
Hungary19218,270
Iceland35140
India41573,220
Indonesia96273,541
Iran228189,000
Iraq17973,715
Ireland, Republic of914,964
Isle of Man (United Kingdom)153132
Israel21719,756
Italy10561,758
Jamaica1253,559
Japan3340,881
Jersey (United Kingdom)135146
Jordan18519,140
Kazakhstan18435,228
Kenya10360,000
Kiribati113129
Kosovo/Kosova991,830
Kuwait1014,500
Kyrgyzstan1177,633
Laos16611,885
Latvia1753,271
Lebanon1419,254
Lesotho1042,216
Liberia553,000
Libya26919,103
Liechtenstein3514
Lithuania1564,551
Luxembourg89600
Macau (China)1961,345
Madagascar10130,530
Malawi7616,366
Malaysia24182,144
Maldives3141,700
Mali408,670
Malta119671
Marshall Islands6635
Martinique (France)2751,025
Mauritania572,826
Mauritius2152,755
Mayotte (France)205616
Mexico174233,687
Micronesia, Federated States of127132
Moldova (Republic of)2355,695
Monaco8131
Mongolia1835,832
Montenegro1701,046
Morocco267102,653
Mozambique6321,814
Myanmar (formerly Burma)183100,324
Namibia3188,900
Nauru34538
Nepal9027,550
Netherlands6411,537
New Caledonia (France)190563
New Zealand1819,638
Nicaragua33220,918
Niger4010,179
Nigeria3784,767
North Macedonia1402,555
Northern Mariana Islands (USA)304170
Norway553,052
Oman461,960
Pakistan3887,712
Palau36766
Panama52223,798
Papua New Guinea575,373
Paraguay23917,712
Peru28597,605
Philippines162180,826
Poland19470,927
Portugal11512,339
Puerto Rico (USA)1775,798
Qatar692,055
Republic of (South) Korea10352,940
Reunion (France)1561,440
Romania12624,106
Russian Federation300433,006
Rwanda63789,034
Samoa179358
San Marino31
Sao Tome e Principe129300
Saudi Arabia20768,056 c. 68,056.
Senegal6913,185
Serbia16210,787
Seychelles393474
Sierra Leone524,453
Singapore1569,536
Sint Maarten (Netherlands)19687
Slovakia1648,895
Slovenia861,831
Solomon Islands79500
South Africa258157,056
South Sudan588,400
Spain11756,698
Sri Lanka13128,555
St. Kitts and Nevis296160
St. Lucia308572
St. Vincent and the Grenadines353392
Sudan5221,000
Suriname1851,000
Sweden9610,175
Switzerland776,881
Syria6010,599
Taiwan25058,571
Tajikistan14114,000
Tanzania5032,671
Thailand391274,277
Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor)55763
Togo594,990
Tonga516557
Trinidad and Tobago2763,802
Tunisia19623,484
Turkey424362,422
Turkmenistan57635,000
Tuvalu11011
Uganda15276,946
Ukraine13044,024
United Arab Emirates1049,826
United Kingdom: England & Wales14086,256
United Kingdom: Northern Ireland991,910
United Kingdom: Scotland1508,274
United States of America5411,808,100
Uruguay44915,767
Uzbekistan8529,000
Vanuatu65195
Venezuela19967,200
Vietnam135133,986
Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)368114
Virgin Islands (USA)251261
Yemen144,268
Zambia12525,372
Zimbabwe15324,068

Territories or other subnational areas

To keep the above chart more compact the country names may be stripped from the territories or other subnational areas. [4] Here is that info as provided by World Prison Brief:

Territory or other subnational area.  
Flag of American Samoa.svg  American Samoa (USA)
Flag of Anguilla.svg  Anguilla (United Kingdom)
Flag of Aruba.svg  Aruba (Netherlands)
Flag of Bermuda.svg  Bermuda (United Kingdom)
No flag.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina: Federation
Flag of the Republika Srpska.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina: Republika Srpska
Flag of the Cayman Islands.svg  Cayman Islands (United Kingdom)
Flag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands (New Zealand)
Flag of Curacao.svg  Curaçao (Netherlands)
Flag of the Faroe Islands.svg  Faeroe Islands (Denmark)
Flag of France.svg  French Guiana/Guyane (France)
Flag of French Polynesia.svg  French Polynesia (France)
Flag of Gibraltar.svg  Gibraltar (United Kingdom)
Flag of Greenland.svg  Greenland (Denmark)
Flag of France.svg  Guadeloupe (France)
Flag of Guam.svg  Guam (USA)
Flag of Guernsey.svg  Guernsey (United Kingdom)
Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong (China)
Flag of Jersey.svg  Jersey (United Kingdom)
Flag of Macau.svg  Macau (China)
Flag-of-Martinique.svg  Martinique (France)
Flag of France.svg  Mayotte (France)
Flags of New Caledonia.svg  New Caledonia (France)
Flag of the Northern Mariana Islands.svg  Northern Mariana Islands (USA)
Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico (USA)
Flag of France.svg  Reunion (France)
Flag of Sint Maarten.svg  Sint Maarten (Netherlands)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom: England & Wales
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom: Northern Ireland
Flag of Scotland.svg  United Kingdom: Scotland
Flag of the United States.svg  United States of America
Flag of the British Virgin Islands.svg  Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg  Virgin Islands (USA)

See also

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    The United Kingdom has three distinct legal systems with a separate prison system in each: one for both England and Wales, one for Scotland, and one for Northern Ireland. As of June 2023, the United Kingdom has the highest per-capita incarceration rate in Western Europe, at 159 people per 100,000 in England and Wales; 162 people per 100,000 in Scotland; 97 people per 100,000 in Northern Ireland; and the largest prison population in Western Europe. The average cost per prison place was £46,696 in England and Wales (2021/22), £46,892 in Scotland (2021/22), and £47,927 in Northern Ireland (2022/23).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Incarceration in the United States</span> Form of punishment in United States law

    Incarceration in the United States is one of the primary means of punishment for crime in the United States. In 2021, over five million people were under supervision by the criminal justice system, with nearly two million people incarcerated in state or federal prisons and local jails. The United States has the largest known prison population in the world. It has 5% of the world’s population while having 20% of the world’s incarcerated persons. China, with more than four times more inhabitants, has fewer persons in prison. Prison populations grew dramatically beginning in the 1970s, but began a decline around 2009, dropping 25% by year-end 2021.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in Japan</span>

    Law enforcement in Japan is provided mainly by prefectural police under the oversight of the National Police Agency. The National Police Agency is administered by the National Public Safety Commission, ensuring that Japan's police are an apolitical body and free of direct central government executive control. They are checked by an independent judiciary and monitored by a free and active press.

    The World Prison Brief at PrisonStudies.org is an online database providing free access to information on prison systems around the world. It is now hosted by the Institute For Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR), Birkbeck College, University of London.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in the United States</span>

    Crime has been recorded in the United States since its founding and has fluctuated significantly over time. Most available data underestimate crime before the 1930s, giving the false impression that crime was low in the early 1900s and had a sharp rise after. Instead, violent crime during the colonial period was likely three times higher than the highest modern rates in the data we have, and crime had been on the decline since colonial times. Within the better data for crime reporting and recording available starting in the 1930s, crime reached its broad, bulging modern peak between the 1970s and early 1990s. After 1992, crime rates have generally trended downwards each year, with the exceptions of a slight increase in property crimes in 2001 and increases in violent crimes in 2005–2006, 2014–2016 and 2020–2021. As of July 1, 2024 violent crime was down and homicides were on pace to drop to 2015 levels by the end of the year.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">United States incarceration rate</span> Incarceration rate of the United States

    The United States in 2022 had the fifth highest incarceration rate in the world, at 541 people per 100,000. Between 2019 and 2020, the United States saw a significant drop in the total number of incarcerations. State and federal prison and local jail incarcerations dropped by 14% from 2.1 million in 2019 to 1.8 million in mid-2020. The incarceration total has risen since then. In 2018, the United States had the highest incarceration rate in the world.

    There are three types of prison in Turkey: closed, semi-open, and open. A further distinction is made between ordinary closed prisons and high-security prisons. Many prisons have separate blocks for women and some also for children (juveniles), but there are also some prisons which are exclusively for women or children. Prisoners in Turkey must be divided, as per law, into remand prisoners and convicted prisoners. In practice, they are held in the same wards and cells.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Punishment in Australia</span>

    Punishment in Australia arises when an individual has been accused or convicted of breaking the law through the Australian criminal justice system. Australia uses prisons, as well as community corrections. When awaiting trial, prisoners may be kept in specialised remand centres or within other prisons.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Incarceration of women</span> Imprisonment of women

    Approximately 741,000 women are incarcerated in correctional facilities, a 17% increase since 2010 and the female prison population has been increasing across all continents. The list of countries by incarceration rate includes a main table with a column for the historical and current percentage of prisoners who are female.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Penitentiary Service</span> Russian federal prison authority

    The Federal Penitentiary Service is a federal agency of the Ministry of Justice of Russia responsible for correctional services.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Prisons in Russia</span> Prison system in Russia

    Prisons in Russia consist of four types of facilities: pre-trial institutions; educative or juvenile colonies; corrective colonies; and prisons.

    Prisons in India are overcrowded and eight of out ten prisoners in Indian jails await trial. There are 1319 prisons in India as of 2021. Currently, there are about 1400 prisons. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of prisoners increased 13% from 2020 to 2021, making over 80% of the prisons overcrowded. After the Supreme Court order, a number of prisoners were released in 2020 to decongest the jails, reducing the overall prison occupancy in 20 states and two Union Territories to a little over 93%. However, the occupancy rate increased to 130% again by 2021. About 63 unnatural deaths took place in Indian prisons. Among the major states, Tamil Nadu is the only state which has less than 100% occupancy followed by Karnataka.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Comparison of United States incarceration rate with other countries</span> Comparison of the incarceration rate of the United States with other countries

    In 2022, the United States had 1,808,100 inmates in adult facilities, at a rate of 541 per 100,000 population. That was the 5th highest rate in the world. In 2021, the United States had 1,767,200 inmates in adult facilities. This left America with the highest prison population if China's latest official number (2018) of 1,690,000 were used. According to the World Prison Brief the total number in China would be much higher if pre-trial detainees and those held in administrative detention were added, and yet more depending on the number of Uyghurs being held. The 2021 US incarceration rate of 531 per 100,000 population was the 6th highest rate. According to the World Prison Population List there were around 10.35 million people in penal institutions worldwide in 2015. The US had 2,173,800 prisoners in adult facilities in 2015. That means the US held 21.0% of the world's prisoners in 2015, even though the US represented only around 4.4 percent of the world's population in 2015. In 2015 the US had the 2nd highest incarceration rate (698), behind the Seychelles rate of 799 per 100,000.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Corrections (Thailand)</span>

    The Department of Corrections is an agency of the Thai Ministry of Justice. Its mission is to keep prisoners in custody and rehabilitate them. Its headquarters is in Suanyai Sub-district, Mueang Nonthaburi District, Nonthaburi Province. As of 2020, Police Colonel Suchart Wongananchai is director-general of the department. Its FY2019 budget was 13,430 million baht.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Incarceration in Norway</span> Overview of incarceration in Norway

    Norway's criminal justice system focuses on the principles of restorative justice and the rehabilitation of prisoners. Correctional facilities in Norway focus on maintaining custody of the offender and attempting to make them functioning members of society. Norway's prison system is renowned as one of the most effective and humane in the world.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic death rates by country</span>

    This article contains the number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths per population as of 20 October 2024, by country. It also has cumulative death totals by country. For these numbers over time see the tables, graphs, and maps at COVID-19 pandemic deaths and COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory.

    References

    1. 1 2 Highest to Lowest. World Prison Brief (WPB). Use dropdown menu to choose lists of countries by region, or the whole world. Use menu to select highest-to-lowest lists of prison population totals, prison population rates, percentage of pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners, percentage of female prisoners, percentage of foreign prisoners, and occupancy rate. Column headings in WPB tables can be clicked to reorder columns lowest to highest, or alphabetically. For detailed information for each country click on any country name in lists. The individual country pages also give the date of the data. See also the WPB main data page and click on the map links and/or the sidebar links to get to the region and country desired. Please update the tables here only from this WPB source.
    2. ↑ Highest to Lowest - Prison Population Rate. From World Prison Brief
    3. ↑ Highest to Lowest - Prison Population Total. From: World Prison Brief.
    4. ↑ {{ Flagg }}. This flag template removes the names of the countries behind territories, subnational areas, etc.. Other flag templates (such as {{ flaglist }}) do not do that. But that template can not create specialized country links. See Help:Tables and locations#Adding specialized country/state links.
    5. ↑ Search of World Prison Brief website for "United Kingdom". It pulls up the pages for England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Cayman Islands, Jersey, Virgin Islands, Isle of Man, Guernsey, Gibraltar, etc.. World Prison Brief.
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