This is a list of countries and some dependent territories and subnational areas by incarceration rate.Highest to Lowest

World Prison Brief 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 ...

(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 th
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. World map of prison population rates from World Prison Brief

World map of prison population rates from World Prison Brief

Incarceration totals, rates, demographics

The

(WPB) may or may not incorporate juvenile incarceration numbers into the totals for each

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

, dependent territory, or

subnational area Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

. The date for each item below is the latest available to WPB at the time the data was copied here. See the individual WPB country and subnational area pages for more info on dates, juvenile numbers, and much more. N/A below means that the data is not available (NA) in the info provided by WPB. * indicates "Incarceration in LOCATION" or "Crime in LOCATION" links.
''Note: For the UK as a whole see #United Kingdom in notes section.''

Territories or other subnational areas

To keep the above chart compact the country names were stripped from the territories or other subnational areas. Here is that info as provided by

Notes

Australia

In addition to the numbers referenced in the main table,Australia
By

. see info about additional detainees, and alleged detainees, at Immigration detention in Australia and

Punishment in Australia 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 (various non-custodial punishments suc ...

China

In addition to the numbers referenced in the main table,China
By

. see info about additional detainees, and alleged detainees, at

Re-education through labor Re-education through labor (RTL; ), abbreviated ''laojiao'' () was a system of administrative detention on Mainland China. Active from 1957 to 2013, the system was used to detain persons who were accused of committing minor crimes such as pet ...

Laogai ''Laogai'' (), short for ''laodong gaizao'' (), which means reform through labor, is a criminal justice system involving the use of penal labor and prison farms in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and North Korea (DPRK). ''Láogǎi'' i ...

, and

Xinjiang internment camps The Xinjiang internment camps, officially called vocational education and training centers ( zh, 职业技能教育培训中心, Zhíyè jìnéng jiàoyù péixùn zhōngxīn) by the government of China, are internment camps operated b ...

Cuba

In addition to the numbers referenced in the main table,Cuba
By

. see info about additional detainees, and alleged detainees, at

Human rights in Cuba Human rights in Cuba are under the scrutiny of Western human rights organizations, which accuse the Cuban government of committing systematic human rights abuses against the Cuban people, including arbitrary imprisonment and unfair trials. Intern ...

. Also at

Law enforcement in Cuba Law enforcement in Cuba is the responsibility of the National Revolutionary Police Force ( es, Policía Nacional Revolucionaria, PNR) under the administration of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior. Article 65 of the Cuban Constitution states that ...

Eritrea

has limited info on Eritrea.Eritrea

North Korea

has limited info on

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

.North Korea
By

. See info about detainees, and alleged detainees, at Prisons in North Korea.

Somalia

has limited info on

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

.Somalia

United Kingdom

:''See also #Territories or other subnational areas higher up.'' The data source (

) does not list an incarceration rate for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as a whole, with its territories, and other subnational areas, etc.. In the main table see

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

, Cayman Islands,

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, Guernsey,

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = " Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Bri ...

. A rate for the United Kingdom as a whole can be calculated by adding up their prison populations, and then dividing by their combined population.

United States

The incarceration rate (per 100,000 population of all ages) is for inmates held in adult facilities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It does not include inmates in the custody of correctional facilities operated by departments of corrections in U.S. territories (

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and U.S. commonwealths (

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

).United States of America
By

.Correctional Populations in the United States, 2016
(NCJ 251211). Published April 2018 by

U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of cri ...

(BJS). By Danielle Kaeble and Mary Cowhig, ''BJS statisticians.'' Se
PDF
. Appendix table 1 on page 11 has rates and counts by state. See page 1 "highlights" section for the "1 in ..." numbers. See table 4 on page 4 for a timeline of nationwide incarceration rates. See appendix table 3 on page 13, for "Persons held in custody in state or federal prisons or in local jails, 2000, 2010, and 2015–2016". That table also has incarceration rates. See appendix table 2 on page 12 for the number or persons incarcerated in territorial prisons, military facilities, and jails in Indian country. In addition, there were 36,479 juveniles in

juvenile detention In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile det ...

in 2019. For more juvenile detention information and numbers, see Youth incarceration in the United States. The incarceration rate in the U.S. varies greatly by

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

. See:

List of U.S. states and territories by incarceration and correctional supervision rate This article has lists of U.S. states by adult incarceration and correctional supervision rates according to United States Department of Justice figures. The state incarceration numbers include sentenced and un-sentenced inmates in jails and state ...

. It also breaks it down to male and female incarceration rates by state. See also:

Incarceration of women in the United States The incarceration of women in the United States refers to the Incarceration of women, imprisonment of women in both prisons and jails in the United States. There are approximately 219,000 incarcerated women in the US according to a November 2018 ...

References

External links

Core Publications of the World Prison Brief
Such as the World Prison Population List, and the World Female Imprisonment List.
Persons Detained
Statistics of incarceration ("detained") from the

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French: ''Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime'') is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the ...

Data Analysis Tools – Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) – Prisoners

United States Bureau of Justice Statistics The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of cri ...

. {{Law country lists Incarceration rate * *