World Prison Population List
(eighth edition)
International Centre
for Prison Studies

Roy Walmsley

Introduction
This eighth edition of the World Prison Population List
gives details of the number of prisoners held in 218
independent countries and dependent territories. It
shows the differences in the level of imprisonment
across the world and makes possible an estimate of
the world prison population total. The information is
the latest available in early December 2008.
This is the third edition of the List to be published
by the International Centre for Prison Studies and it
complements the information which ICPS already
publishes and updates monthly on the World Prison
Brief section of its website www.prisonstudies.org.
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. Most figures relate to
dates between the beginning of 2006 and the end
of November 2008. Since prison population rates
(per 100,000 of the national population) are based on
estimates of the national population they should not
be regarded as precise. In order to compare prison
population rates in different regions of the world, and
to estimate the number of persons held in prison in the
countries for which information is not available, median
rates have been used because they minimise the effect
of countries with rates that are untypically high or low.
A number of points need to be noted. Figures are
not available for six countries and the information
does not relate to the same date. Comparability is
further compromised by different practice in different
countries, for example with regard to whether all
pre-trial detainees and juveniles are held under
the authority of the prison administration, and also
whether the prison administration is responsible
for psychiatrically ill offenders and offenders being
detained for treatment for alcoholism and drug
addiction. People held in custody are usually omitted
from official national totals if they are not under the
authority of the prison administration.
It is hoped that this edition of the World Prison
Population List will be found useful by those who
are studying the extent of imprisonment world-wide
or are interested in variations in criminal justice
practice. The data may prompt fresh thought among
policy-makers and other criminal justice experts
about the size of the prison population in their
country, given the high costs and disputed efficacy
of imprisonment.

Key points
c	 More than 9.8 million people are held in penal
institutions throughout the world, mostly as pre-trial
detainees (remand prisoners) or as sentenced prisoners.
Almost half of these are in the United States (2.29m),
Russia (0.89m) or China (1.57m sentenced prisoners).
A further 850,000 are held in ‘administrative detention’
in China; if these are included the overall Chinese total
is over 2.4 million and the world total over 10.65 million.
c	 The United States has the highest prison population
rate in the world, 756 per 100,000 of the national
population, followed by Russia (629), Rwanda (604),
St Kitts & Nevis (588), Cuba (c.531), U.S. Virgin Is.
(512), British Virgin Is. (488), Palau (478), Belarus (468),
Belize (455), Bahamas (422), Georgia (415), American
Samoa (410), Grenada (408) and Anguilla (401).
c	 Almost three fifths of countries (59%) have rates below
150 per 100,000.
c The world population in 2008 is estimated at 6,750
million (United Nations); set against a world prison
population of 9.8 million this produces a world prison
population rate of 145 per 100,000 (158 per 100,000 if
set against a world prison population of 10.65 million).
c	 Prison population rates vary considerably between
different regions of the world, and between different
parts of the same continent. For example:
•	 in Africa the median rate for western African countries is
35 whereas for southern African countries it is 231;
•	 in the Americas the median rate for south American
countries is 154 whereas for Caribbean countries it
is 324.5;
•	 in Asia the median rate for south central Asian countries
(mainly the Indian sub-continent) is 53 whereas for
(ex‑Soviet) central Asian countries it is 184;
•	 in Europe the median rate for southern and western
European countries is 95 whereas for the countries
spanning Europe and Asia (e.g. Russia & Turkey) it
is 229.
•	 in Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand) the
median rate is 102.5.
c	 Prison populations are growing in many parts of the
world. Updated information on countries included in
previous editions of the World Prison Population List
shows that prison populations have risen in 71% of
these countries (in 64% of countries in Africa, 83% in
the Americas, 76% in Asia, 68% in Europe and 60%
in Oceania).

1

World Prison Population List (eighth edition)
Table 1 AFRICA
	
	
	

Prison population total	
Date	
(no. in penal institutions 		
incl. pre-trial detainees)		

Estimated	
national	
population	

Prison population	
rate (per 100,000 of	
national population)	

Source of	
prison population total	

Northern Africa
Algeria	
Egypt	
Libya	
Morocco	
Sudan	
Tunisia	

54,000	
64,378	
12,748	
53,580	
c.12,000	
c.26,000	

11/07	
31/12/06	
6/07	
31/12/06	
3/03	
/04	

158	
87	
209	
167	
c.36	
c.263	

34.1m	
76.15m	
6.1m	
32.15m	
33.2m	
9.9m	

NPA
United Nations 10th Survey
NPA
NPA
NPA
Tunisian Human Rights League

Western Africa
Benin	
Burkina Faso	
Cape Verde	
Côte d’Ivoire	
Gambia	
Ghana	
Guinea (Conakry)	
Liberia	
Mali	
Mauritania	
Niger	
Nigeria	
Senegal	
Sierra Leone	
Togo	

6,083 	
2,800	
755	
10,621*	
450	
12,736	
3,070	
1,022	
4,407	
815	
5,709	
39,438	
6,425	
1,899	
3,200	

1/08	
9.15m	
66	
Non-gov’t organisations in Benin
9/02	
12.2m	
23	
NPA
12/99	 423,000	
178	
NPA
31/12/07	
19.2m	
55*	
US State Dep’t human rights report
*Relates only to prisons under Government control.
9/02	
1.4m	
32	
NPA
29/9/06	
23.0m	
55	
NPA
mid-02	
8.4m	
37	
NPA
8/07	
3.5m	
29	
NPA
/04	
13.4m	
33	
Ministry of Justice, Mali
12/05	
3.1m	
26	
US State Dep’t human rights report
27/5/06	
12.5m	
46	
NPA
31/1/07	
143.0m	
28	
NPA
10/4/07	
12.1m	
53	
NPA
30/9/07	
5.8m	
33	
Prison Watch, Sierra Leone
8/03	
4.9m	
65	
Afrol News

Central Africa
Angola	
Cameroon	
Central African Rep. 	
Chad	
Congo (Brazzaville)	
Gabon	
Dem. Repub. Congo	
Sao Tome e Principe	

c.8,300	
22,734	
1,233	
3,416	
c.900	
c.2,750	
c.30,000	
160	

10/05	
av.04-05	
10/07	
8/05	
/06	
2/06	
1/04	
7/06	

c.52	
139	
29	
35	
c.22	
c.196	
c.57	
83	

16.0m	
16.3m	
4.2m	
9.7m	
4.1m	
1.4m	
52.8m	
193,400	

NPA
Ministry of Justice, Cameroon
US State Dep’t human rights report
US State Dep’t human rights report
US State Dep’t human rights report
US State Dep’t human rights report
Crim. justice experts, D.R.Congo
NPA

Eastern Africa
Burundi	
9,114	
31/5/08	
8.8m	
104	
NPA
Comoros	
c.200	
/98	 658,000	
c.30	
Criminal justice expert, Comoros
Djibouti	
384	 16/12/99	 629,000	
61	
Min. of Foreign Affairs, Djibouti
Ethiopia	
c.80,000	
10/9/07	
82.0m	
c.98	
US State Dep’t human rights report
Kenya	
47,036	
9/06	
36.2m	
130	
‘The Nation’, Kenya
Madagascar	
17,495	 31/12/06	
19.3m	
91	
NPA
Malawi	
10,830	 31/12/07	
13.9m	
78	
NPA
Mauritius	
2,223	
9/5/08	
1.3m	
171	
NPA
Mozambique	
c.15,000	
/07	
20.5m	
c.53	
NPA
Rwanda	
58,598*	 31/12/07 	
9.7m	
604*	
US State Dep’t human rights report
*Prison population includes about 39,000 sentenced or awaiting trial in connection with the genocide of 1994.
Seychelles	
221	
/07	
81,900	
270	
US State Dep’t human rights report
Tanzania	
43,911	
1/9/06	
39.0m	
113	
NPA
Uganda	
26,273	
30/4/07	
30.8m	
88	
NPA
Zambia	
14,347	
2/12/05	
11.8m	
122	
NPA
Zimbabwe	
17,967	
18/6/07	
13.2m	
136	
NPA
Mayotte (France)	
179	
1/10/07	 210,570	
85	
French Ministry of Justice
Réunion (France)	
1,307	
1/10/07	 810,000	
161	
French Ministry of Justice

Southern Africa
Botswana	
Lesotho	
Namibia	
South Africa	
Swaziland	
Figures not available	
	

5,917	
2,701	
4,064	
164,297	
2,546	

31/5/07	
25/7/07	
31/12/07	
31/10/08	
2/6/08	

329	
144	
194	
335	
231	

1.8m	
1.88m	
2.1m	
49.0m	
1.1m	

NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA

Western Africa: Guinea Bissau. Central Africa: Equatorial Guinea.
Eastern Africa: Eritrea, Somalia.

2

World Prison Population List (eighth edition)
Table 2 AMERICAS
	
	
	

Prison population total	
Date	
(no. in penal institutions 		
incl. pre-trial detainees)		

Estimated	
national	
population	

Prison population	
rate (per 100,000 of	
national population)	

Source of	
prison population total	

North America
Canada	
USA	
Bermuda (UK)	
Greenland (Denmark)	

38,348*	
07-08	
33.1m	
116	
Statistics Canada
*Average daily population, including young offenders, 1/4/2007-31/3/2008.
2,293,157	 31/12/07	 303.15m	
756	
US Bureau of Justice Statistics
261	 31/10/07	
66,300	
394	
NPA
188	 27/11/07	
56,340	
334	
Danish NPA

Central America
1,334	
8,924	
14,682	
7,477	
11,589	
222,671	
6,060	
10,036	

1/6/08	
31/10/08	
12/07	
31/12/06	
9/12/05	
30/9/08	
12/06	
17/11/08	

293,000	
4.5m	
7.05m	
13.05m	
7.2m	
107.4m	
5.65m	
3.4m	

455	
198	
208	
57	
161	
207	
107	
295	

NPA
NPA
US State Dep’t human rights report
US State Dep’t human rights report
NPA
NPA
US State Dep’t human rights report
NPA

Antigua & Barbuda	
208	
Bahamas	
1,400	
Barbados	
1,030	
Cuba	
c.60,000	
Dominica	
254	
Dominican Republic	
16,457	
Grenada	
367	
Haiti	
6,370	
Jamaica	
4,709	
St Kitts & Nevis	
232	
St Lucia	
503	
St Vincent & Grenadines	
376	
Trinidad & Tobago	
3,510	
Anguilla (UK)	
55	
Aruba (Netherlands)	
277	
Cayman Islands (UK)	
207	
Guadeloupe (France)	
790	
Martinique (France)	
763	
Neth. Antilles (Netherlands)	
713	
Puerto Rico (US)	
13,215	
Virgin Islands (UK)	
117	
Virgin Islands (US)	
555	

1/08	
/07	
2/08	
11/06	
30/8/07	
30/9/08	
/07	
10/07	
1/10/07	
11/07	
9/05	
/07	
31/12/07	
9/10/07	
6/07	
31/8/08	
1/10/07	
1/10/07	
mid-07	
31/12/07	
26/5/08	
31/12/07	

69,650	
332,000	
271,500	
11.3m	
73,000	
10.0m	
90,000	
9.0m	
2.7m	
39,430	
166,000	
118,150	
1.3m	
13,730	
100,000	
54,430	
453,000	
399,000	
223,650	
4.0m	
24,000	
108,330	

299	
422	
379	
c.531	
348	
165	
408	
71	
174	
588	
303	
317	
270	
401	
277	
380	
174	
191	
319	
330	
488	
512	

NPA
US State Dep’t human rights report
‘The Nation’, Barbados
Prof. Nils Christie, Oslo University
NPA
NPA
US State Dep’t human rights report
US State Dep’t human rights report
NPA
Jail delivery, St Kitts & Nevis
NPA
US State Dep’t human rights report
US State Dep’t human rights report
NPA
C of E CPT report
NPA
French Ministry of Justice
French Ministry of Justice
C of E CPT report & prison director
US Bureau of Justice Statistics
NPA
US Bureau of Justice Statistics

31/12/06	
10/06	
6/08	
31/10/08	
9/08	
8/08	
1/12/06	
27/11/08	
1/08	
/05	
31/8/06	
4/08	
1/10/07	

39.3m	
9.4m	
194.2m	
16.8m	
46.7m	
13.5m	
752,000	
6.2m	
28.5m	
449,000	
3.6m	
28.0m	
204,500	

154	
82	
227	
305	
149	
126	
260	
97	
146	
356	
193	
79	
365	

Ministry of Justice, Argentina
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
US State Dep’t human rights report
NPA
‘Venezuela Analysis’, Venezuela
French Ministry of Justice

Belize	
Costa Rica	
El Salvador	
Guatemala	
Honduras	
Mexico	
Nicaragua	
Panama	

Caribbean

South America
Argentina	
60,621	
Bolivia	
7,682	
Brazil	
440,013	
Chile	
51,244	
Colombia	
69,689	
Ecuador	
17,065	
Guyana	
1,955	
Paraguay	
6,031	
Peru	
41,745	
Suriname	
c.1,600	
Uruguay	
6,947	
Venezuela	
22,000	
French Guiana/Guyane (France)	 746	

3

World Prison Population List (eighth edition)
Table 3 ASIA
	
	
	

Prison population total	
Date	
(no. in penal institutions 		
incl. pre-trial detainees)		

Estimated	
national	
population	

Prison population	
rate (per 100,000 of	
national population)	

Source of	
prison population total	

Western Asia
Bahrain	
Iraq	
Israel	
Jordan	
Kuwait	
Lebanon	
Oman	
Qatar	
Saudi Arabia	
Syria	
United Arab Emirates	
Yemen	

701	
27,366	
22,788	
c.7,500	
c.3,500	
5,870	
2,020	
465 	
28,612 	
10,599	
11,193	
14,000*	

/04	 739,000	
95	
30/6/08	
29.5m	
93	
3/08	
7.0m	
326	
4/08	
6.1m	
c.123	
/05	
2.7m	
c.130	
/07	
3.7m	
159	
/00	
2.5m	
81	
31/12/04	 850,000	
55	
/02	
21.7m	
132	
/04	
18.2m	
58	
/06	
4.7m	
238	
/98	
16.9m	
83*	
*Government managed prisons only.

United Nations 9th Survey
UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)
NPA
NPA
US State Dep’t human rights report
NPA
United Nations 7th Survey
United Nations 9th Survey	
United Nations 8th Survey
United Nations 9th Survey
United Nations 10th Survey
PRI Newsletter 33, 1998

Central Asia
Kazakhstan	
Kyrgyzstan	
Tajikistan	
Turkmenistan	
Uzbekistan	

56,012	
8,427	
7,350	
10,953	
48,000	

1/1/08	
1/3/08	
1/1/08	
/06	
8/03	

378	
156	
109	
224	
184	

14.8m	
5.4m	
6.75m	
4.9m	
26.1m	

Penal Reform International, Almaty
Penal Reform International, Almaty
Penal Reform International, Almaty
United Nations 10th Survey
NPA

South Central Asia
Afghanistan	
Bangladesh	
India	
Iran	
Maldives	

9,600	
83,000	
373,271	
158,351	
1,125*	

Nepal	
Pakistan	
Sri Lanka	

c.6,700	
90,000	
25,537	

1/07	
31.8m	
30	
19/9/08	
161.3m	
51	
31/12/06	 1,127.5m	
33	
8/07	
71.3m	
222 	
/04	 328,000	
343*	
*Sentenced prisoners only.
1/1/08	
28.5m	
c.24	
/07	
164.6m	
55	
31/7/07	
21.1m	
121	

486	
10,337	
136,017	
4,020	
50,305	
65,063	
91,530	
11,768	
166,338	
c.320	
98,556	

13/8/07	
mid-07	
10/08	
mid-04	
mid-07	
mid-07	
/06	
avrge 07	
2/08	
1/2/03	
mid-06	

United Nations, Kabul
NPA
National Crime Records Bureau
NPA
United Nations 9th Survey
Home Ministry, Nepal
US State Dep’t human rights report
NPA

South Eastern Asia
Brunei Darussalam	
Cambodia	
Indonesia	
Laos	
Malaysia	
Myanmar (Burma)	
Philippines	
Singapore	
Thailand	
Timor-Leste	
Vietnam	

124	
71	
58	
69	
192	
126	
108	
267 	
257	
41	
116	

391,000	
14.6m	
236.0m	
5.8m	
26.2m	
51.5m	
84.5m	
4.4m	
64.7m	
778,000	
85.3m	

NPA
NPA, Asia-Pacific annual conference
NPA
NPA
NPA, Asia-Pacific annual conference
NPA, Asia-Pacific annual conference
United Nations 10th Survey
NPA
NPA
UN High Commiss’r for Human Rights
NPA, Asia-Pacific annual conference

Eastern Asia
China	
1,565,771*	 31/12/05	 1,319.7m	
119*	
NPA
*Sentenced prisoners only. According to official statistics a further 850,000 are held in two types of ‘administrative detention’.
Japan	
81,255	 31/12/06	 128.25m	
63	
NPA
Korea (Republic of)	
47,097	
30/6/08	
48.4m	
97	
NPA
Mongolia	
6,593	
mid-06	
2.7m	
244	
NPA, Asia-Pacific annual conference
Taiwan	
63,370	 31/10/08	
22.94m	
276	
NPA
Hong Kong (China)	
10,434	
30/9/08	
7.3m	
143	
NPA
Macau (China)	
894	
31/8/08 	 554,600	
161	
Macau statistical directorate (DSEC)
Figures not available	
	

South Central Asia: Bhutan.
Eastern Asia: Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea).

4

World Prison Population List (eighth edition)
Table 4 EUROPE
	
	
	

Prison population total	
Date	
(no. in penal institutions 		
incl. pre-trial detainees)		

Estimated	
national	
population	

Prison population	
rate (per 100,000 of	
national population)	

Source of	
prison population total	

Northern Europe
Denmark	
Estonia	
Finland	
Iceland	
Ireland	
Latvia	
Lithuania	
Norway	
Sweden	
United Kingdom	
– England & Wales	
– Northern Ireland	
– Scotland	
Faeroe Is. (Denmark)	
Guernsey (UK)	
Isle of Man (UK)	
Jersey (UK)	

3,448	
3,467	
3,370	
140	
3,325	
6,548	
7,866	
3,276	
6,770	

4/9/08	
1/1/08	
1/1/08	
1/9/08	
26/10/07	
1/1/08	
1/1/08	
1/8/08	
1/10/07	

5.49m	
1.34m	
5.30m	
318,700	
4.39m	
2.27m	
3.36m	
4.74m	
9.17m	

63	
259	
64	
44	
76	
288	
234	
69	
74	

NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
Statistics Lithuania
NPA
NPA

83,392	
1,562	
7,893	
11	
74	
97	
186	

28/11/08	
24/11/08	
28/11/08	
avrge 07	
30/9/08	
29/9/08	
30/9/08	

54.56m	
1.78m	
5.18m	
47,500	
65,765	
76,300	
91,590	

153	
88	
152	
23	
113	
127	
203	

NPA
NPA
NPA
Danish NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA

Southern Europe
Albania	
5,041	
6/08	
3.18m	
159	
NPA
Andorra	
30	
1/9/06	
80,300	
37	
C of E Annual Penal Statistics
Bosnia & Herzegovina
– Federation	
1,750	
30/4/08	
2.6m	
67	
Ministry of Justice, Federation of B&H
– Republika Srpska	
928	
1/9/07	
1.4m	
66	
C of E Annual Penal Statistics
Croatia	
4,127	
1/7/07	
4.44m	
93	
NPA
Cyprus	
671*	
31/8/08	 805,100*	
83	
NPA
*Does not include the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Greece	
12,300	
11/08	
11.25m	
109	
Ministry of Justice, Greece
Italy*	
55,057	
30/6/08	
59.86m	
92	
Ministry of Justice, Italy
*By agreement with Italy, persons imprisoned by Vatican City are held in Italian prisons.
Kosovo/Kosova*	
c.1,300	
2/06	
2.1m	
c.62	
UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
*Recognised as independent by 52 countries at the end of November 2008.
Macedonia (F Yug Rep)	
2,200	
3/08	
2.05m	
107	
‘Southeast European Times’
Malta	
387	
avrge 07	 409,200	
95	
Ministry of Justice & Home Affairs, Malta
Montenegro	
734	
1/9/03	 680,000	
108	
C of E Annual Penal Statistics
Portugal	
11,017	 15/11/08	
10.63m	
104	
NPA
San Marino*	
1	
1/9/06	
30,200	
-*	
C of E Annual Penal Statistics
*By agreement with Italy, most persons imprisoned by San Marino are held in Italian prisons.
Serbia 	
8,978	
1/9/07	
7.38m	
122	
C of E Annual Penal Statistics
Slovenia	
1,317	
1/9/08	
2.04m	
65	
NPA
Spain	
73,687	 28/11/08	
46.02m	
160	
NPA
Gibraltar (UK)	
43	
24/9/08	
28,010	
154	
NPA

Western Europe
7,909	
1/8/08	
8.35m	
95	
NPA
10,002	
17/6/08	
10.71m	
93	
NPA
59,655*	
1/7/08	 62.10m*	
96	
NPA			
*Metropolitan France, excluding departments and territories in Africa, the Americas and Oceania.
Germany	
73,203	
31/8/08	
82.16m	
89	
German Federal Statistical Office
Liechtenstein*	
7	
5/9/07	
35,400	
20	
C of E CPT report
*By agreement with Austria, some persons imprisoned by Liechtenstein are held in Austrian prisons.
Luxembourg	
745	
1/9/07	 481,300	
155	
Ministry of Justice, Luxembourg
Monaco*	
36	
1/9/07	
34,400	
105	
C of E Annual Penal Statistics
*By agreement with France, some persons imprisoned by Monaco are held in French prisons.
Netherlands	
16,416	
31/8/08	
16.44m	
100	
NPA
Switzerland	
5,715	
5/9/07	
7.56m	
76	
Swiss Federal Statistical Office
Austria	
Belgium	
France	

Europe/Asia
3,520	
1/10/07	
3.23m	
109	
NPA
19,559	 31/12/06	
8.53m	
229	
United Nations 10th Survey
18,170	
31/1/08	
4.38m	
415	
NPA
* Does not include Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which have declared independence from Georgia.
Russian Federation	
891,738	
1/11/08	 141.83m	
629	
NPA
Turkey	
101,100	
1/11/08	
71.33m	
142	
NPA
Armenia	
Azerbaijan	
Georgia*	

5

World Prison Population List (eighth edition)
Table 4 cont. EUROPE
	
	
	

Prison population total	
Date	
(no. in penal institutions 		
incl. pre-trial detainees)		

Estimated	
national	
population	

Prison population	
rate (per 100,000 of	
national population)	

Source of	
prison population total	

Central and Eastern Europe
Belarus	
Bulgaria	
Czech Republic	
Hungary	
Moldova	
Poland	
Romania	
Slovakia	
Ukraine	

45,416	 31/12/06	
9.71m	
468	
United Nations 10th Survey
10,271	
1/1/08	
7.64m	
134	
NPA
18,901	 31/12/07	
10.38m	
182	
NPA
14,911	
2/9/08	
10.04m	
149	
NPA
8,130*	
1/9/07	
3.58m*	
227	
C of E Annual Penal Statistics
*Does not include the internationally unrecognised Transdniestria/Transnistria/Pridnestrovie.
84,321	 31/10/08	
38.11m	
221	
NPA
26,551	 25/11/08	
21.49m	
124	
NPA
7,986	 31/12/07	
5.40m	
148	
NPA
149,690	
1/1/08	
46.37m	
323	
NPA

Table 5 OCEANIA
	
	
	

Prison population total	
Date	
(no. in penal institutions		
incl. pre-trial detainees)		

Australia	
27,615	
Fiji		
892	
Kiribati	
88	
Marshall Islands	
47	
Micronesia, Fed States of	
72	
Nauru	
3	
New Zealand	
7,887	
Palau	
97	
Papua New Guinea	
4,056	
Samoa	
186	
Solomon Islands	
211	
Tonga	
86	
Tuvalu	
3	
Vanuatu	
117	
American Samoa (US)	
236	
Cook Islands (NZ)	
27	
French Polynesia (France)	
404	
Guam (US)	
559	
New Caledonia (France)	
326	
Northern Mariana Is. (US)	
131	

Abbreviations	
	

C of E	
PRI	

30/6/08	
/08	
31/5/07	
/06	
/05	
30/4/05	
30/6/08	
30/4/05	
30/4/05	
26/9/07	
7/6/07	
mid-07	
26/7/07	
21/6/07	
31/12/07	
4/05	
1/10/07	
29/7/08	
1/10/07	
10/7/08	

Estimated	
national	
population	

Prison population	
rate (per 100,000 of	
national population)	

21.37m	
844,000	
107,600	
60,400	
108,100	
13,000	
4.27m	
20,300	
5.9m	
187,000	
501,000	
117,000	
12,000	
219,000	
57,580	
21,400	
264,500	
176,000	
245,000	
86,600	

129	
106	
82	
78	
67	
23	
185	
478	
69	
99	
42	
74	
25	
53	
410	
126	
153	
318	
133	
151	

Council of Europe	
Penal Reform International

NPA	

Source of
prison population
total
Australian Bureau of Statistics
NPA
NPA
US State Dep’t human rights report
F S Micronesia Statistical Yearbook
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA
NPA, Asia-Pacific annual conference
NPA
NPA
US Bureau of Justice Statistics
NPA
French Ministry of Justice
NPA
French Ministry of Justice
NPA

National prison administration

Roy Walmsley is a consultant to the United Nations and an Associate of the International Centre for Prison Studies
(ICPS), King’s College, London. At ICPS he is director of the World Prison Brief, a comprehensive database of
information on the prison systems of the world, which is available free of charge at www.prisonstudies.org
He has also produced the World Female Imprisonment List (June 2006) and the World Pre-trial/Remand Imprisonment
List (January 2008), which complement the World Prison Population List and the World Prison Brief and were both
published by ICPS.

International Centre for Prison Studies
King’s College London – School of Law
7th Floor, Melbourne House
46 Aldwych
London WC2B 4LL

International Centre
for Prison Studies

6

Tel: 00 44 (0)20 7848 1922
Fax: 00 44 (0)20 7848 1901
Website: www.prisonstudies.org
Email: icps@kcl.ac.uk