[1] A map of incarceration rates by country

This is a list of countries by incarceration rate.[1]

Incarceration rates [ edit ]

This list is initially sorted alphabetically. Click the sorting cell (with the icon) below the incarceration rate header to sort by rate. (Requires JavaScript.) The table can be sorted in ascending or descending order. The row number column stays static, and does not sort.

The chart source does not list an incarceration rate for the UK as a whole. In the list see Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England and Wales. If there is a rate for the United Kingdom in the table below it has been calculated by adding up the population of the constituent parts of the UK, and by adding up the prison populations.

If South Korea is not found in the table below look for it listed as Republic of (South) Korea. For info on North Korea, see notes below.

World Prison Brief WPB) may or may not incorporate juvenile incarceration numbers into the totals for each country. See the individual WPB country pages for more info.[1]

"Notes" column links to notes section below the chart. "c." (circa) indicates "approximately". Sorting will not work correctly if it is in front of the number. Italics is for a dependent territory, subnational area, etc..

Notes [ edit ]

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Europe [ edit ]

European countries by prison population

Prison population of Europe is approximately 1.2 million[2] of total 743 million population.[3]

Australia [ edit ]

With a prison population of 42,000 and a total 2018 population of 25 million, Australia has an incarceration rate of 171 per 100,000 population, or 222 per 100,000 adult population.[4]

In addition to its standard prisons, Australia also operates a separate system of immigration prisons to detain foreigners who have breached the terms of, or lack a visa.[5] Some of these immigration detention centres are used to indefinitely detain[6] asylum seekers and refugees, including children[7], often without trial, sometimes for several years.[6] Immigration detainees are not included in the data for prison population and incarceration rates.[8]

Additionally, the number of prisoners and incarceration rate differs for each Australian state and territory, with some having much higher or lower incarceration rates than the national average.

In addition to adult prisoners, on an average night in June 2017, there was 964 minors imprisoned in Australia.[9]

China [ edit ]

China. The rate of 118 is for sentenced prisoners in 2015 in Ministry of Justice prisons only. World Prison Brief: "1,649,804 [prisoners] at mid-2015 (via Asian and Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators - sentenced prisoners in Ministry of Justice prisons only, excluding pre-trial detainees and those held in administrative detention). The Deputy Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate reported in 2009 that, in addition to the sentenced prisoners, more than 650,000 were held in detention centres In China. If this was still correct in mid-2015 the total prison population in China was at least 2,300,000. ... 118 [rate] based on an estimated national population of 1.4 billion at mid-2015 (from United Nations figures) – sentenced prisoners in Ministry of Justice prisons only. (A total prison population of 2,300,000 would raise the prison population rate to 164 per 100,000.)"[1][10] See also: Re-education through labor and Laogai.

North Korea [ edit ]

North Korea. Little information exists regarding North Korea's incarceration rate. The U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea estimates 150,000 to 200,000 incarcerated based on testimony of defectors from the state police bureau, which roughly equals 600-800 people incarcerated per 100,000.[when?][11] For more info see Prisons in North Korea.

United Kingdom [ edit ]

United Kingdom. Main chart source only provides rates for the constituent parts of the UK.[1] In the above table see Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England and Wales. If they are not listed separately, then they can be found listed under the UK listing.

United States [ edit ]

Juveniles in residential

placement, 1997–2015. US[12] Year Male Female Total

1997 90,771 14,284 105,055 1999 92,985 14,508 107,493 2001 89,115 15,104 104,219 2003 81,975 14,556 96,531 2006 78,998 13,723 92,721 2007 75,017 11,797 86,814 2010 61,359 9,434 70,793 2011 53,079 8,344 61,423 2013 46,421 7,727 54,148 2015 40,750 7,293 48,043

United States. Incarceration rate (per 100,000 population of all ages) is for inmates held in adult facilities in the United States. It does not include inmates in the custody of correctional facilities operated by departments of corrections in U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and U.S. commonwealths (Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico).[13][14]

In addition, there were 48,043 juveniles in juvenile detention in 2015.[12] For more juvenile detention information and numbers, see Youth incarceration in the United States.

The incarceration rate in the U.S. varies by U.S. state, with some such as Oklahoma and Louisiana, being around 1 and 2/3rds higher than the national average. See: List of U.S. states by incarceration and correctional supervision rate.

See also [ edit ]