Countries by prison population

The World Prison Population List is the data list hosted by the by the Institute For Criminal Policy Research (ICPR). The data is published in the World Prison Brief.

The World Prison Population List is compiled from a variety of sources. In almost all cases the original source is the national prison administration of the country concerned, or else the Ministry responsible for the prison administration.

Figures for Eritrea, Somalia and the Democratic People’s Republic of (North) Korea are not available and those for China and Guinea Bissau are incomplete (see footnote to Table 3 concerning China). Also missing are prisoners held under authorities not recognised internationally and those pre-trial prisoners who are held in police facilities and not included in published national prison population totals.

World Prison Population List
Data source: Institute For Criminal Policy Research
Year: 2018

world map

	Prison population per 100000	Prison population total	Comments
United States	655	2 121 600	Data refer to 2016.
El Salvador	604	38 714	Data refer to 2018.
Turkmenistan	552	30 452	Data refer to 2017.
United States Virgin Islands	542	577	Data refer to 2013.
Thailand	526	364 288	Data refer to 2018.
Cuba	510	57 337	Data refer to 2012.
Maldives	499	1 852	Data refer to 2017.
Northern Mariana Islands	482	270	Data refer to 2017.
British Virgin Islands	470	134	Data refer to 2014.
Rwanda	464	61 000	Data refer to 2017. The prison population of Rwanda still includes many thousands detained in connection with the genocide of 1994.
Bahamas	438	1 746	Data refer to 2017.
Seychelles	437	423	Data refer to 2018.
Grenada	435	465	Data refer to 2016.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	426	469	Data refer to 2018.
Guam	404	667	Data refer to 2017.
Russia	402	582 889	Data refer to 2018.
Palau	395	87	Data refer to 2017.
Cayman Islands	393	253	Data refer to 2018.
Saint Kitts and Nevis	393	220	Data refer to 2017.
Panama	390	16.183	Data refer to 2018.
Costa Rica	374	19 226	Data refer to 2017.
Anguilla	367	55	Data refer to 2018.
Belarus	364	34 600	Data refer to 2016.
Belize	356	1 297	Data refer to 2017.
American Samoa	345	193	Data refer to 2017.
Brazil	324	690 722	Data refer to 2018.
Uruguay	321	11 078	Data refer to 2017.
Antigua and Barbuda	321	305	Data refer to 2018.
Bermuda	319	209	Data refer to 2015.
Puerto Rico	313	10 475	Data refer to 2017.
Barbados	300	874	Data refer to 2018.
Cape Verde	298	1 542	Data refer to 2017.
Namibia	295	7 400	Data refer to 2016. Approximately.
Dominica	289	211	Data refer to 2016.
Turkey	288	232 886	Data refer to 2018.
Iran	284	230 000	Data refer to 2017.
Guyana	283	2 200	Data refer to 2018.
Swaziland	282	3 610	Data refer to 2015.
South Africa	280	158 111	Data refer to 2017.
Saint Lucia	280	527	Data refer to 2017.
Nicaragua	276	17 196	Data refer to 2017.
Peru	270	87 995	Data refer to 2018.
Trinidad and Tobago	270	3 667	Data refer to 2015.
Georgia	268	9 990	Data refer to 2018. The figures for Georgia do not include prisoners in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which have declared internationally unrecognised independence from Georgia.
Taiwan	265	62 634	Data refer to 2018.
French Guiana	249	726	Data refer to 2018.
Colombia	240	118 708	Data refer to 2018.
Dominican Republic	238	26 286	Data refer to 2018.
Israel	236	19 325	Data refer to 2017.
Curaçao	236	377	Data refer to 2016.
Azerbaijan	235	23 320	Data refer to 2018.
Lithuania	235	6 544	Data refer to 2018.
Bahrain	234	3 485	Data refer to 2017.
Chile	233	42 683	Data refer to 2018.
Morocco	232	82 512	Data refer to 2018.
Cook Islands	229	48	Data refer to 2016.
Greenland	225	126	Data refer to 2016.
Ecuador	222	37 497	Data refer to 2018.
Honduras	216	18 950	Data refer to 2017.
Guadeloupe	216	970	Data refer to 2018.
New Zealand	214	10 435	Data refer to 2018.
Moldova	212	7 510	Data refer to 2018. The figures for Moldova do not include prisoners in the internationally unrecognised territory that has declared independence from Moldova and is known variously as Transdniestria, Transnistria or Pridnestrovie. The territory is reported to have contained 2,840 prisoners in 2014.
Martinique	211	814	Data refer to 2018.
Fiji	210	1 889	Data refer to 2016.
Botswana	208	4 343	Data refer to 2017.
Macau	208	1 371	Data refer to 2018.
Czech Republic	205	21 806	Data refer to 2018.
Samoa	204	400	Data refer to 2017.
Singapore	201	11 691	Data refer to 2017.
Paraguay	199	13 607	Data refer to 2017.
French Polynesia	199	569	Data refer to 2018.
Saudi Arabia	197	61 000	Data refer to 2017.
Jordan	197	15 700	Data refer to 2018.
Latvia	195	3 765	Data refer to 2018.
Estonia	195	2 575	Data refer to 2018.
Poland	194	73 524	Data refer to 2018.
Mauritius	194	2 499	Data refer to 2018.
New Caledonia	193	543	Data refer to 2018.
Slovakia	191	10 415	Data refer to 2018.
Gabon	191	3 373	Data refer to 2015.
Albania	188	5 407	Data refer to 2018.
Argentina	186	81 975	Data refer to 2016.
Kazakhstan	186	33 989	Data refer to 2018.
Suriname	183	1 000	Data refer to 2014. Approximately.
Tunisia	181	20 755	Data refer to 2017.
Montenegro	180	1 123	Data refer to 2016.
Philippines	179	188 278	Data refer to 2018.
Venezuela	178	57 096	Data refer to 2017.
Malaysia	177	55 413	Data refer to 2017.
Cambodia	176	28 414	Data refer to 2017.
Hungary	173	16 947	Data refer to 2018.
Australia	172	42 942	Data refer to 2018.
Kyrgyzstan	171	10 574	Data refer to 2018.
Tonga	166	176	Data refer to 2014.
Aruba	165	170	Data refer to 2014.
Guernsey	165	109	Data refer to 2018.
Gibraltar	165	56	Data refer to 2016.
Mexico	164	204 422	Data refer to 2018.
Ukraine	157	56 246	Data refer to 2018. The 2015 and 2018 figures for Ukraine do not include prisoners in Crimea and Sebastopol and those areas of Donetsk and Luhansk that are not under the control of the Ukrainian authorities.
Kuwait	157	6 000	Data refer to 2018.
Bolivia	156	17 946	Data refer to 2018.
Serbia	154	10 807	Data refer to 2018.
Sint Maarten	153	62	Data refer to 2018.
Uzbekistan	150	43 900	Data refer to 2014. Approximately.
Algeria	146	60 000	Data refer to 2017. Approximately.
Zambia	146	25 000	Data refer to 2017.
Myanmar	145	79 668	Data refer to 2017.
Bhutan	145	1 119	Data refer to 2014.
Scotland	143	7 771	Data refer to 2018.
Guatemala	141	24 386	Data refer to 2018.
Macedonia	141	2 931	Data refer to 2018.
Nauru	140	14	Data refer to 2014.
England and Wales	140	83 014	Data refer to 2018.
Jamaica	138	3 866	Data refer to 2016.
Vietnam	137	130 002	Data refer to 2017.
Brunei	134	565	Data refer to 2015.
Malta	133	588	Data refer to 2017.
Réunion	130	1 148	Data refer to 2018.
Uganda	129	54 059	Data refer to 2017.
Ethiopia	127	113 727	Data refer to 2013-2014.
Portugal	127	13 065	Data refer to 2018.
Federated States of Micronesia	127	132	Data refer to 2014.
Spain	126	59 087	Data refer to 2018.
Iraq	126	45 000	Data refer to 2015.
Lebanon	126	6 330	Data refer to 2017.
Bulgaria	125	9 028	Data refer to 2014.
Isle of Man	125	106	Data refer to 2018.
Jersey	122	130	Data refer to 2018.
Cameroon	121	29 341	Data refer to 2016.
Tajikistan	121	9 317	Data refer to 2010.
Zimbabwe	120	19 521	Data refer to 2017.
Laos	119	8 201	Data refer to 2016.
Armenia	119	3 536	Data refer to 2018.
China	118	1 649 804	Data refer to 2015. The China figures are for sentenced prisoners only. Figures for pre-trial detention and other forms of detention are not available; more than 650,000 were so held in 2009 (Supreme People’s Procuratorate).
Mayotte	118	308	Data refer to 2018.
São Tomé and Príncipe	117	251	Data refer to 2017.
Egypt	116	106 000	Data refer to 2016. Approximately.
Canada	114	41 145	Data refer to 2015-2016.
Kiribati	113	129	Data refer to 2016.
Hong Kong	112	8 306	Data refer to 2018.
Romania	111	21 527	Data refer to 2018.
Tuvalu	110	11	Data refer to 2014.
South Korea	109	55 198	Data refer to 2017.
Kenya	108	54 000	Data refer to 2018.
Luxembourg	107	650	Data refer to 2018.
United Arab Emirates	104	9 826	Data refer to 2014.
Mongolia	102	3 099	Data refer to 2017.
France	100	65 084	Data refer to 2018. The figures for France are those for Metropolitan France. Those for French departments and territories in Africa, the Americas and Oceania are shown under those continents in tables 1, 2 and 5.
Libya	99	6 187	Data refer to 2014.
Italy	98	59 135	Data refer to 2018.
Austria	98	8 692	Data refer to 2018.
Greece	97	10 409	Data refer to 2018.
Haiti	96	10 512	Data refer to 2017.
Kosovo	95	1 648	Data refer to 2016.
Sri Lanka	94	20 598	Data refer to 2017.
Indonesia	93	248 765	Data refer to 2018.
Angola	93	24 000	Data refer to 2016.
Lesotho	92	2 073	Data refer to 2014.
Afghanistan	88	30 000	Data refer to 2017.
Belgium	88	10 073	Data refer to 2018.
Burundi	84	10 093	Data refer to 2017.
Cyprus	83	710	Data refer to 2016. The figures for Cyprus do not include prisoners in the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). There were 443 prisoners in TRNC in September 2017.
Madagascar	82	20 954	Data refer to 2017.
Switzerland	81	6 863	Data refer to 2017.
Malawi	80	14 795	Data refer to 2017.
Ireland	78	3 816	Data refer to 2018.
Croatia	78	3 190	Data refer to 2018.
Solomon Islands	78	477	Data refer to 2017.
Senegal	76	12 500	Data refer to 2018.
Monaco	76	29	Data refer to 2018. By agreement with France, some persons imprisoned by Monaco may be held in French prisons.
Northern Ireland	76	1 435	Data refer to 2018.
Germany	75	62 194	Data refer to 2018.
Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation	73	1 722	Data refer to 2014.
Vanuatu	71	192	Data refer to 2016.
Andorra	69	52	Data refer to 2018.
Benin	68	7 890	Data refer to 2017.
Ivory Coast	66	16 127	Data refer to 2017.
Djibouti	66	600	Data refer to 2016. Approximately.
Marshall Islands	66	35	Data refer to 2014.
Republika Srpska	66	863	Data refer to 2017.
Nepal	65	18 881	Data refer to 2017.
Togo	64	4 859	Data refer to 2017.
Slovenia	64	1 333	Data refer to 2018.
Papua New Guinea	63	4 945	Data refer to 2016.
Denmark	63	3 635	Data refer to 2018.
Norway	63	3 373	Data refer to 2018.
Equatorial Guinea	63	500	Data refer to 2015. Approximately.
Mozambique	61	18 185	Data refer to 2017.
Netherlands	61	10 464	Data refer to 2017.
Chad	59	8 000	Data refer to 2015.
Sweden	59	5 979	Data refer to 2017.
Tanzania	58	31 382	Data refer to 2015.
Sierra Leone	58	4 519	Data refer to 2018.
The Gambia	58	1 121	Data refer to 2014.
Bangladesh	53	88 424	Data refer to 2018.
Yemen	53	14 000	Data refer to 2013. Approximately.
Niger	53	10 383	Data refer to 2015.
Sudan	52	21 000	Data refer to 2017. Approximately.
South Sudan	52	6 504	Data refer to 2015.
Ghana	51	15 063	Data refer to 2018.
Finland	51	2 842	Data refer to 2018.
East Timor	51	659	Data refer to 2017.
Liberia	47	2 211	Data refer to 2017.
Mauritania	46	1 920	Data refer to 2016.
Pakistan	43	83 718	Data refer to 2018.
Japan	41	51 805	Data refer to 2018.
Burkina Faso	41	7 670	Data refer to 2016.
Nigeria	37	73 631	Data refer to 2018.
Iceland	37	131	Data refer to 2018.
Oman	36	1 300	Data refer to 2013.
India	33	419 623	Data refer to 2015.
Mali	33	5 209	Data refer to 2014.
Democratic Republic of the Congo	29	20 550	Data refer to 2015. Approximately.
Republic of the Congo	27	1 240	Data refer to 2014. Approximately.
Liechtenstein	27	10	Data refer to 2016. By agreement with Austria and Switzerland, some persons imprisoned by Liechtenstein may be held in prisons in those countries.
Guinea	25	3 200	Data refer to 2017. Approximately.
Comoros	23	191	Data refer to 2017.
Central African Republic	16	764	Data refer to 2015.
Faroe Islands	12	6	Data refer to 2017.
Guinea-Bissau	10	196	Data refer to 2017. The Guinea Bissau total is for three prisons only. Figures for pre-trial prisoners held in police custody are not available.
San Marino	-	3	Data refer to 2018. The figures for San Marino do not show prison population rates because, by agreement with Italy, most persons imprisoned by San Marino are held in Italian prisons and the number of such prisoners is not available.