Prisoners per capita (most recent) by country

Rank	Countries	Amount
# 1	United States:	715 per 100,000 people
# 2	Russia:	584 per 100,000 people
# 3	Belarus:	554 per 100,000 people
# 4	Palau:	523 per 100,000 people
# 5	Belize:	459 per 100,000 people
# 6	Suriname:	437 per 100,000 people
# 7	Dominica:	420 per 100,000 people
# 8	Ukraine:	416 per 100,000 people
# 9	Bahamas, The:	410 per 100,000 people
# 10	South Africa:	402 per 100,000 people
# 11	Kyrgyzstan:	390 per 100,000 people
# 12	Singapore:	388 per 100,000 people
# 13	Kazakhstan:	386 per 100,000 people
# 14	Barbados:	367 per 100,000 people
# 15	Panama:	354 per 100,000 people
# 16	Trinidad and Tobago:	351 per 100,000 people
# 17	Thailand:	340 per 100,000 people
= 18	Estonia:	339 per 100,000 people
= 18	Latvia:	339 per 100,000 people
# 20	Saint Kitts and Nevis:	338 per 100,000 people
# 21	Grenada:	333 per 100,000 people
# 22	Botswana:	327 per 100,000 people
# 23	Swaziland:	324 per 100,000 people
# 24	Mongolia:	303 per 100,000 people
# 25	Antigua and Barbuda:	278 per 100,000 people
# 26	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines:	270 per 100,000 people
# 27	Namibia:	267 per 100,000 people
# 28	Tunisia:	253 per 100,000 people
# 29	Taiwan:	250 per 100,000 people
# 30	Saint Lucia:	243 per 100,000 people
# 31	Lithuania:	234 per 100,000 people
# 32	Costa Rica:	229 per 100,000 people
# 33	Iran:	226 per 100,000 people
# 34	Mauritius:	214 per 100,000 people
# 35	Poland:	210 per 100,000 people
# 36	Uruguay:	209 per 100,000 people
# 37	Seychelles:	207 per 100,000 people
# 38	Chile:	204 per 100,000 people
# 39	Azerbaijan:	198 per 100,000 people
# 40	Romania:	193 per 100,000 people
# 41	Uzbekistan:	184 per 100,000 people
# 42	Czech Republic:	178 per 100,000 people
= 43	Morocco:	176 per 100,000 people
= 43	Jamaica:	176 per 100,000 people
# 45	Guyana:	175 per 100,000 people
# 46	Israel:	174 per 100,000 people
# 47	Libya:	173 per 100,000 people
# 48	Honduras:	172 per 100,000 people
= 49	Mexico:	169 per 100,000 people
= 49	Brazil:	169 per 100,000 people
= 51	Slovakia:	165 per 100,000 people
= 51	Hungary:	165 per 100,000 people
= 53	Malaysia:	161 per 100,000 people
= 53	Tajikistan:	161 per 100,000 people
# 55	New Zealand:	160 per 100,000 people
# 56	El Salvador:	158 per 100,000 people
# 57	Dominican Republic:	157 per 100,000 people
# 58	Bahrain:	155 per 100,000 people
# 59	Georgia:	148 per 100,000 people
# 60	Lebanon:	146 per 100,000 people
# 61	Spain:	144 per 100,000 people
= 62	Lesotho:	143 per 100,000 people
= 62	Nicaragua:	143 per 100,000 people
= 64	Madagascar:	130 per 100,000 people
= 64	Portugal:	130 per 100,000 people
= 66	Cameroon:	129 per 100,000 people
= 66	Burundi:	129 per 100,000 people
# 68	Bulgaria:	127 per 100,000 people
# 69	Colombia:	126 per 100,000 people
# 70	Zambia:	121 per 100,000 people
# 71	China:	119 per 100,000 people
# 72	Fiji:	117 per 100,000 people
= 73	Canada:	116 per 100,000 people
= 73	Australia:	116 per 100,000 people
= 73	Tanzania:	116 per 100,000 people
# 76	Netherlands:	112 per 100,000 people
= 77	Luxembourg:	111 per 100,000 people
= 77	Kenya:	111 per 100,000 people
= 79	Central African Republic:	110 per 100,000 people
= 79	Algeria:	110 per 100,000 people
= 79	Saudi Arabia:	110 per 100,000 people
# 82	Rwanda:	109 per 100,000 people
# 83	Argentina:	107 per 100,000 people
= 84	Tonga:	106 per 100,000 people
= 84	Jordan:	106 per 100,000 people
= 86	Albania:	105 per 100,000 people
= 86	Sri Lanka:	105 per 100,000 people
# 88	Peru:	104 per 100,000 people
= 89	Kuwait:	102 per 100,000 people
= 89	Bolivia:	102 per 100,000 people
= 91	Austria:	100 per 100,000 people
= 91	Italy:	100 per 100,000 people
# 93	Germany:	96 per 100,000 people
= 94	Qatar:	95 per 100,000 people
= 94	France:	95 per 100,000 people
# 96	Philippines:	94 per 100,000 people
# 97	Syria:	93 per 100,000 people
= 98	Armenia:	92 per 100,000 people
= 98	Turkey:	92 per 100,000 people
# 100	Andorra:	90 per 100,000 people
# 101	Belgium:	88 per 100,000 people
= 102	Yemen:	83 per 100,000 people
= 102	Greece:	83 per 100,000 people
= 104	Benin:	81 per 100,000 people
= 104	Oman:	81 per 100,000 people
# 106	Sao Tome and Principe:	79 per 100,000 people
# 107	Venezuela:	76 per 100,000 people
= 108	Sweden:	75 per 100,000 people
= 108	Paraguay:	75 per 100,000 people
= 110	Switzerland:	72 per 100,000 people
= 110	Denmark:	72 per 100,000 people
= 110	Malta:	72 per 100,000 people
= 113	Vietnam:	71 per 100,000 people
= 113	Finland:	71 per 100,000 people
# 115	Malawi:	70 per 100,000 people
# 116	Guatemala:	68 per 100,000 people
# 117	Papua New Guinea:	66 per 100,000 people
= 118	Norway:	64 per 100,000 people
= 118	Croatia:	64 per 100,000 people
# 120	Djibouti:	61 per 100,000 people
= 121	Ecuador:	59 per 100,000 people
= 121	Pakistan:	59 per 100,000 people
= 121	Slovenia:	59 per 100,000 people
= 124	Tuvalu:	56 per 100,000 people
= 124	Kiribati:	56 per 100,000 people
= 126	Senegal:	54 per 100,000 people
= 126	Japan:	54 per 100,000 people
= 128	Haiti:	53 per 100,000 people
= 128	Liechtenstein:	53 per 100,000 people
# 130	Ghana:	52 per 100,000 people
= 131	Mozambique:	50 per 100,000 people
= 131	Bangladesh:	50 per 100,000 people
= 131	Cyprus:	50 per 100,000 people
= 134	Nauru:	48 per 100,000 people
= 134	Mauritania:	48 per 100,000 people
= 136	Chad:	46 per 100,000 people
= 136	Togo:	46 per 100,000 people
# 138	Cambodia:	45 per 100,000 people
= 139	Angola:	44 per 100,000 people
= 139	Marshall Islands:	44 per 100,000 people
= 139	Vanuatu:	44 per 100,000 people
# 142	Iceland:	40 per 100,000 people
# 143	Monaco:	39 per 100,000 people
= 144	Indonesia:	38 per 100,000 people
= 144	Congo, Democratic Republic of the:	38 per 100,000 people
# 146	Guinea:	37 per 100,000 people
= 147	Micronesia, Federated States of:	34 per 100,000 people
= 147	Mali:	34 per 100,000 people
# 149	Nigeria:	33 per 100,000 people
# 150	Gambia, The:	32 per 100,000 people
# 151	Solomon Islands:	31 per 100,000 people
= 152	India:	29 per 100,000 people
= 152	Nepal:	29 per 100,000 people
# 154	Burkina Faso:	23 per 100,000 people
= 155	United Arab Emirates:	0 per 100,000 people
= 155	Niger:	0 per 100,000 people
= 155	Cuba:	0 per 100,000 people
= 155	Uganda:	0 per 100,000 people
= 155	Egypt:	0 per 100,000 people
= 155	Sudan:	0 per 100,000 people
= 155	Ethiopia:	0 per 100,000 people
= 155	Turkmenistan:	0 per 100,000 people
= 155	Comoros:	0 per 100,000 people
= 155	Zimbabwe:	0 per 100,000 people
	Weighted average:	147.9 per 100,000 people

DEFINITION: Data for 2003. Number of prisoners held per 100,000 population.

SOURCE: International Centre for Prison Studies - World Prison Brief

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COMMENTARY

Marla 10th August 2010	Why do some countries have 0 per 100,000 such as Cuba? Are they saying there are no prisoners in Cuba? Or is their population less than that? What does it mean?
Amway 31st July 2010	U.S top in the list..Geez, it's not surprised. U.S. does not practise what it preaches. Violation of human right in U.S. is rampant.
TerryCATHERINE33 20th July 2010	I had a desire to make my own organization, but I did not have enough amount of cash to do that. Thank God my close colleague recommended to utilize the loans . So I took the small business loan and made real my dream.
TE 14th July 2010	Wow!The USA certainly has a lot of prisoners. Maybe it's because they have those sentences of 100's of years.
Schruti 29th April 2010	The first prison in the Bahamas was opened in the late 1960's before that prisoners were kept in tents by the beach and allowed to go home on thze weekends .
qlue 19th April 2010	Egypt uses corporal punishment, no jails needed. Mugabe is the last criminal left in Zimbabwe, all the others are here in South Africa. Likewise, Cuba's criminals now live in Florida, USA. :p.
Ted 16th March 2010	China is #71.
Jody Mackey 3rd February 2010	China just happens to be listed with 119 prisoners per 100,000. I can't verify the data but that one is there.
B Smart 16th December 2009	China isn't even on this list. I would not rely on this list as "reliable data."
Boomer 2nd December 2009	@Michael Lovett It's probably because we (United States) don't get reliable data from those nations.
Michael Lovett 29th July 2009	I noticed that Egypt, #155, is listed as having no prisoners out of 100,000 in population, tied with other countries like Cuba and Zimbabwe. How is that explained?
Luis Beck 1st May 2009	Hi; It is estimated that by the year 2023 a 1000 dollar computer will reach the human brain potential for processing data; which means that there is a huge market of hundreds of billions dollars waiting for humanoid robots and intelligent systems; try to read the tips for the new robot HRP-4C on my website. I am sure you will be able to improve your robot or to help promote the issue because it can really change the world for the good: http://luisbeck007.googlepages.com/humanoid
Priya 22nd February 2005	Check again
Priya 22nd February 2005	Just checking - ignore this Suchita

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