World Female Imprisonment List
third edition

Women and girls in penal institutions, including
pre-trial detainees/remand prisoners

Roy Walmsley

Introduction
This third edition of the World Female Imprisonment List shows the
number of women and girls held in penal institutions in 219 prison
systems in independent countries and dependent territories. The
figures include both pre-trial detainees/remand prisoners and those
who have been convicted and sentenced. The List also shows
the percentage of women and girls within each national prison
population and the proportion of the national population that are
imprisoned females (the female prison population rate per 100,000
of the national population). The information is the latest available at
the end of July 2015. In addition, this edition includes information
about trends in female prison population levels since 2000.
Both the World Female Imprisonment List and the World Prison
Population List (the eleventh edition of which is scheduled for
publication in January 2016) complement the information held in the
World Prison Brief online database at www.prisonstudies.org. The
World Prison Brief is updated monthly.
The World Female Imprisonment List is compiled, like the World Prison
Population List, 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 of the
figures are recent and efforts are continually made to update them and
to obtain information on the numbers of female prisoners in the seven
countries on which figures are not currently available (Cuba, Equatorial
Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, North Korea, Somalia and Uzbekistan). We
welcome the assistance of readers in notifying us of the latest figures.
Care has been taken to ensure that the List is as accurate as possible
but we cannot guarantee the reliability of every figure and readers are
also invited to draw attention to any errors they notice and, if possible,
to supply corrections.
It is hoped that this edition of the World Female Imprisonment List
will be useful for policy makers, prison administrators, academic
criminologists, non-governmental organisations, other criminal
justice experts and everyone who is interested in the extent of female
imprisonment.

1

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Key points
CC This report shows that 700,000 women and
girls are held in penal institutions throughout
the world, either as pre-trial detainees/remand
prisoners or having been convicted and
sentenced. Figures for seven countries are not
available and those for China are incomplete.
The full total is therefore higher than 700,000.

CC The number of women and girls in prison has
increased by about 50% since the year 2000,
when the total was estimated as approximately
466,000. This rise cannot be explained in terms
of the growth in national population levels:
United Nations figures for the world population
indicate that this rose only by 18% between
mid-2000 and mid-2014.

CC More than 200,000 are in the United States
of America (205,400). The countries with the
next highest totals are China (103,766 plus an
unknown number of women and girls in pretrial detention or ‘administrative detention’), the
Russian Federation (53,304), Thailand (44,751),
Brazil (37,380), Vietnam (20,553), India (18,188)
and Mexico (13,400).

CC The female prison population has risen in all
continents. The increases have been greater
than the growth in national population levels,
except in Africa where the rise in the female
prison population was only half as great as
the increase in the population of the continent.
Rises in the female prison population in the
Americas, in Oceania and in Asia have been,
respectively, three, four and five times the
increases in the population of those continents.

CC Female prisoners generally (in about 80% of
prison systems) constitute between 2 and 9%
of the total prison population. Just eighteen
systems have a higher percentage than
that. The highest (excluding three countries
with national populations under 60,000 –
Liechtenstein (22.2%), Monaco (17.4%) and
Greenland (13.8%)) are Hong Kong-China
(19.4%), Macau-China (17.7%), Myanmar
(16.3%), Bolivia and Qatar (both 14.7%),
Thailand (14.5%), Vietnam (14.4%) and Kuwait
(13.8%).

CC The number of women and girls in prison has
risen particularly sharply in some countries:
notably in central America – Guatemala (almost
quadrupled since 2001) and El Salvador
(now almost eight times the level at 2000); in
south America – Brazil (almost four times the
2000 level) and Colombia (almost three times
the 2000 level); and in south-eastern Asia –
Cambodia and Indonesia (both more than
quadrupled since 2000).

CC The proportion of women and girls within the
total prison population is lowest in African
countries, where the median level is 2.8%, and
highest in Asian countries, where the median
level is 6.0%. The world median is 4.4%.

CC Current indications are that female prison
population levels have not only grown sharply;
they have grown much faster than male prison
population levels (see article cited under table
7 below). It is provisionally estimated that
the total world prison population has increased
by around 20% since 2000, compared with the
approximately 50% increase in the number of
imprisoned women and girls. More information
will be available in the forthcoming eleventh
edition of the World Prison Population List.

CC There are also considerable variations between
countries, regions and continents in the
proportion of the national population that
female prisoners constitute – best expressed
for comparison purposes as the female prison
population rate per 100,000 of the national
population. The lowest levels are again in Africa
where the median is 2.5 per 100,000; in Asia
the median level is three times as high and in
the Americas more than four times as high.
The highest female prison population rates are
in Thailand (66.4 per 100,000 of the national
population), U.S.A. (64.6), Seychelles (48.9), El
Salvador (45.9), Turkmenistan (38.2), Russian
Federation (36.9), Macau-China (33.6), Rwanda
(32.0), Belarus (29.9) and American Samoa
(29.6).

2

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 1	
	
	
	
	

AFRICA
Female	
Date	
Percentage	
Estimated	
Female	
Trend information
prison		
of total	
national	
prison		
population		
prison	 population	 population	year	
total	 %age	 rate
total		population		
rate

Northern Africa
Algeria	
1,037	
31.12.13	
1.7%	
37.28m	
2.8	
					
	
					
	
Egypt	
2,386	
31.12.06	
3.7%	
73.61m	
3.2	
					
	
Libya	
63	
15.9.13	
1.2%	
6.21m	
1.0	
					
	
					
	
Morocco	
1,719	
31.12.14	
2.3%	
33.37m	
5.2	
					
	
					
	
Sudan	
c· 200	
3.03	
c· 1.7%	
29.74m	
c. 0.7	
Tunisia	
647	
10.14	
2.7%	
11.15m	
5.8	

2000	
2006	
2010	

626	
607	
820	

1.8%	2.0
1.1%	1.8
1.5%	2.3

2002	
2005	

2,213	
2,453	

4.3%	
3.2
3.6%	3.4

2004	
2007	
2010	

387	
347	
345	

3.3%	7.0
2.7%	6.0
2.6%	5.7

2002	
2006	
2010	

1,776	
1,227	
1,721	

3.3%	6.0
2.4%	4.0
2.7%	5.4

400	

1.9%	3.7

not available
2011	

Western Africa
Benin	
360	
10.12	
5.0%	
9.42m	
3.8	
					
	
					
	
Burkina Faso	
102	
30.6.14	
1.6%	
18.41m	
0.6	
					
	
					
	
Cape Verde	
57	
7.13	
4.0%	
501,000	
11.4	
					
	
Cote d’Ivoire	
187	
30.11.14	
1.7%	
21.01m	
0.9	
Gambia	
28	
.14	
3.1%	
1.91m	
1.5	
Ghana	
199	
6.15	
1.4%	
26.96m	
0.7	
					
	
					
	
Guinea (Rep. of)	
133	
12.08	
4.8%	
10.45m	
1.3	
					
	
Guinea Bissau	
4*	
31.12.13	
4.3%*	
1.725m	
-	
Liberia	
52	
.11	
3.2%	
4.08m	
1.3	
					
	
					
	
Mali	
145	
.14	
2.8%	
15.77m	
0.9	
Mauritania	
21	
.14	
1.2%	
4.01m	
0.5	
					
	
Niger	
225	
31.12.12	
2.6%	
17.49m	
1.3	
					
	
Nigeria	
1,156	
31.10.14	
2.0%	
180.19m	
0.6	
					
	
					
	
Senegal	
284	
21.12.12	
3.4%	
13.24m	
2.1	
					
	
					
	
Sierra Leone	
138	
14.10.14	
3.6%	
6.24m	
2.2	
					
	
Togo	
115	
.14	
2.6%	
6.99m	
1.6	
					
	

2000	
2006	
2008	

c· 140	
c· 3.6%	
2.1
220	 3.8%	2.8
210	 3.5%	2.5

2001	
2007	

25	
74	

1.0%	0.2
1.8%	0.5

2010	

100	

2.0%	0.6

1999	
2010	

38	
73	

5.0%	8.7
6.0%	14.9

2002	

236	

2.3%	1.4

1999	

6	

1.2%	0.5

2000	
2005	
2010	

143	
257	
187	

1.5%	0.8
2.1%	1.2
1.4%	0.8

2002	
2007	

61	
112	

2.0%	0.7
4.4%	1.1

not available
2001	
2007	
2010	

-	c· 5%	
50	 4.9%	1.4
31	 2.0%	0.8

2002	

80	

2.0%	0.7

1999	
2010	

34	
62	

2.5%	1.3
3.6%	1.7

2006	
2010	

183	
155	

3.2%	1.3
2.9%	1.0

2000	
2005	
2011	

709	
722	
908	

1.9%	0.6
1.9%	0.5
1.9%	0.6

2000	
2005	
2008	

183	
234	
256	

3.7%	1.9
3.6%	2.2
3.7%	2.2

2007	
2010	

66	
79	

3.3%	1.2
3.5%	1.4

1998	
2011	

46	
92	

2.3%	1.0
2.1%	1.4

Central Africa
Angola	
522	
31.12.11	
2.7%	
19.87m	
2.6	
					
	
Cameroon	
515	
12.12	
2.0%	
21.95m	
2.3	
					
	
Central African Rep.	
69	
11.11	
8.2%	
4.51m	
1.5	
Chad	
35*	
31.5.11	
2.8%*	
12.05m	
-	
Congo (Rep. of)	
99	
.09	
4.1%	
3.995m	
2.5	
Dem. Rep. of Congo	
c· 600	
.10	
c· 2.7%	
62.19m	
c. 1.0	
					
	
Sao Tome e Principe	
3	
8.10.14	
1.5%	
199,000	
1.5	
					
	
South Sudan	
c· 400	
31.12.13	
c· 5.3%	
11.52m	
c. 3.5	

3

1999	
2003	
2003	
2009	

c· 97	
c· 2%	
c. 0.7
196	 3.3%	1.3
503	
488	

2.5 %	
3.0
2.1%	2.4

not available
2002	

21*	2.5%*	-

2005	

82	

2004	
2008	
2002	
2009	
not available

5.3%	2.3

83*	3.2%*	130*	3.0%*	3	
7	

2.3%	2.1
2.9%	4.0

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 1 (continued)	
	
	
	
	

AFRICA

Female	
Date	
Percentage	
Estimated	
Female	
Trend information
prison		
of total	
national	
prison		
population		
prison	 population	 population	year	
total	 %age	 rate
total		population		
rate

Eastern Africa
Burundi	
377	
31.12.13	
4.8%	
9.125m	
4.1	
2002	
216	 2.5%	3.2
					
	
2006	
231	 3.2%	3.1
					
	
2010	
349	 3.8%	4.2
Comoros	
7	
10.14	
3.0%	
756,000	
0.9	
2010	
2	 1.5%	0.3
Djibouti	
c· 35	
.14	
c· 5.8%	
886,000	
c· 4.0	
2009	
c· 24	
c· 4.8%	
c. 2.9
Ethiopia	
2,637	
2010/11	
2.8%	
84.17m	
3.1	
2001/2	 2,034	 3.3%	3.0
						
2005/6	 1,994	 2.8%	2.6
Kenya	
2,756	
10.12	
5.3%	
42.97m	
6.4	
2001	
1,486	 4.2%	4.6
					
	
2006	
2,000	 4.2%	5.5
					
	
2009	
2,081	 4.5%	5.3
Madagascar	
834	
.13	
4.5%	
22.48m	
3.7	
2003	
650	 3.4%	3.9
					
	
2006	
573	 3.3%	3.1
					
	
2010	
736	 3.9%	3.6
Malawi	
129	
25.7.14	
1.1%	
16.77m	
0.8	
2001	
91	 1.3%	0.8
					
	
2005	
117	 1.2%	0.9
					
	
2010	
156	 1.3%	1.0
Mauritius	
169	
16.1.13	
6.3%	
1.32m	
12.8	
2000	
78	 4.7%	6.5
					
	
2005	
137	
5.6%	10.9
					
	
2010	
153	
6.2%	11.8
Mozambique	
618	
9.13	
3.9%	
25.10m	
2.5	
1999	
551	 6.3%	3.1
					
	
2009	
358	 2.2%	1.6
Rwanda	
3,620	
30.9.12	
6.4%	
11.33m	
32.0	
2002	
2,925	
2.6%	33.6
					
	
2009	
c· 4,200	
c· 6.6%	
c. 40.3
Seychelles	
45	
9.14	
6.1%	
92,000	
48.9	
2002	
4	 2.7%	4.8
					
	
2006	
11	
7.7%	13.0
					
	
2010	
28	
6.5%	31.5
Tanzania	
1,285	
1.11.11	
3.4%	
46.60m	
2.8	
2005	
1,515	 3.3%	3.9
					
	
2008	
1,361	 3.3%	3.2
Uganda	
1,907	
8.14	
4.5%	
37.82m	
5.0	
2005	
901	 3.4%	3.2
					
	
2008	
1,060	 3.6%	3.3
					
	
2010	
1,175	 3.8%	3.5
Zambia	
169	
17.9.13	
1.0%	
14.26m	
1.2	
2005	
237	 1.7%	2.1
Zimbabwe	
322	
7.14	
1.8%	
12.96m	
2.5	
2001	
671	 3.5%	5.3
					
	
2005	
602	 3.3%	4.8
					
	
2011	
340	 1.9%	2.5
Mayotte (France)	
3	
1.1.10	
1.4%	
201,000	
1.5	
2003	
2	 1.2%	1.2
					
	
2007	
3	 1.9%	1.6
Reunion (France)	
29	
1.7.15	
2.8%	
895,000	
3.2	
2003	
29	 2.7%	3.8
					
	
2007	
34	 2.6%	4.2

Southern Africa
Botswana	
93	
31.12.13	
2.4%	
2.03m	
4.6	
					
	
					
	
Lesotho	
74	
30.8.14	
3.6%	
2.26m	
3.3	
					
	
					
	
Namibia	
85	
10.4.15	
2.4%	
2.48m	
3.4	
					
	
					
	
South Africa	
3,875	
31.3.14	
2.5%	
53.79m	
7.2	
					
	
					
	
Swaziland	
c· 105	
21.3.14	
2.9%	
1.25m	
c· 8.4	
					
	
					
	
* These figures are for the main prisons only. Full figures are not available.
Figures are not available for the following countries:
Central Africa: Equatorial Guinea, Gabon. Eastern Africa: Eritrea, Somalia.

4

2001	
2004	
2009	

289	
306	
215	

4.6%	16.2
5.0%	16.4
4.1%	11.0

2000	
2005	
2010	

139	
78	
61	

4.5%	7.0
2.7%	3.8
2.4%	2.3

2000	
2007	
2012	

104	
110	
117	

2.1%	5.4
2.7%	5.1
2.7%	4.9

2000	
2005	
2010	

3,966	
4,072	
3,694	

2.5%	9.2
2.2%	8.7
2.2%	7.4

2002	
2005	
2009	

133	
104	
68	

3.9%	
12.3
3.9%	9.4
2.6%	5.8

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 2	
	
	
	
	

AMERICAS
Female	
Date	
Percentage	
Estimated	
Female	
Trend information
prison		
of total	
national	
prison		
population		
prison	 population	 population	year	
total	 %age	 rate
total		population		
rate

Northern America
Canada	
4,124	
2011/12	
10.6%	
34.45m	
12.0	
2000/01	 2,601	
						
2005/06	 2,126	
						
2010/11	 4,204	
U.S.A.	
205,400	
.13	
9.3%	
317.8m	
64.6	
2000	
158,629	
					
	
2005	
195,140	
					
	
2010	
197,100	
Bermuda (UK)	
13	
31.7.14	
5.7%	
65,000	
20.0	
2000	
20	
					
	
2003	
36	
					
	
2007	
14	
Greenland (Denmark)	
16	
21.7.15	
13.8%	
55,700	
28.7	
not available

7.3%	8.5
6.0%	6.6
11.0%	12.3
8.2%	55.6
8.9%	66.0
8.7%	63.5
6.7%	31.7
5.6%	56.2
5.4%	21.5

Central America
Belize	
44	
9.1.15	
2.8%	
344,000	
12.8	
					
	
					
	
Costa Rica	
1,009	
30.9.14	
5.8%	
4.95m	
20.4	
					
	
					
	
El Salvador	
2,952	
27.7.15	
9.7%	
6.43m	
45.9	
					
	
					
	
Guatemala	
1,709	
28.5.15	
9.0%	
16.22m	
10.5	
					
	
					
	
Honduras	
627	
9.14	
4.3%	
8.30m	
7.6	
					
	
					
	
Mexico	
13,400	
31.3.15	
5.2%	
119.81m	
11.2	
					
	
					
	
Nicaragua	
450	
31.12.12	
4.9%	
6.04m	
7.5	
					
	
					
	
Panama	
1,077	
3.14	
6.9%	
3.91m	
27.5	
					
	
					
	

2000	
2005	
2010	

20	
33	
24	

2.6%	8.4
2.4%	12.1
1.7%	7.7

2003	
2006	
2009	

454	
615	
673	

6.8%	10.8
7.4%	13.9
6.4%	14.5

2000	
2005	
2010	

371	
585	
2,445	

4.8%	6.2
4.7%	9.6
9.9%	39.2

2001	
2005	
2010	

433	
381	
743	

5.9%	3.8
5.3%	3.0
6.7%	5.2

2002	
2005	
2010	

614	
395	
411	

5.2%	9.4
3.4%	5.7
3.5%	5.3

2001	
2005	
2010	

7,207	
10,485	
9,839	

4.3%	7.1
5.0%	9.9
4.5%	8.7

2002	
2005	
2008	

c· 215	
365	
515	

3.8%	
c. 4.1
6.5%	6.7
7.6%	9.1

2001	
2005	
2010	

721	
761	
865	

7.5%	22.9
6.6%	22.4
7.1%	23.3

Caribbean
Antigua & Barbuda	
14	
9.14	
4.2%	
93,200	
15.0	
					
	
					
	
Bahamas	
44	
10.14	
3.2%	
385,000	
11.4	
					
	
Barbados	
24	
10.14	
2.7%	
286,300	
8.4	
					
	
					
	
Dominica	
4	
12.13	
1.7%	
68,000	
5.9	
					
	
Dominican Republic	
627	
29.5.15	
2.5%	
10.64m	
5.9	
					
	
					
	
Grenada	
5	
9.14	
1.0%	
106,000	
4.7	
					
	
					
	
Haiti	
448	
30.1.15	
4.4%	
10.54m	
4.3	
					
	
					
	
Jamaica	
197	
10.11.14	
4.9%	
2.78m	
7.1	
					
	
					
	
St Kitts & Nevis	
10	
.14	
3.0%	
55,000	
18.2	
					
	
St Lucia	
14	
7.14	
2.2%	
184,000	
7.6	
					
	
					
	

5

2003	
2007	
2011	

7	
4	
13	

4.3%	8.5
2.0%	4.6
4.3%	14.4

2002	
2011	

23	
35	

1.8%	7.4
2.7%	9.5

2001	
2007	
2010	

39	
49	
37	

4.7%	14.5
4.7%	17.8
4.1%	13.2

2005	
2010	

1	
6	

0.3%	1.5
2.1%	8.8

2001	
2006	
2010	

621	
470	
563	

4.0%	7.1
3.4%	4.9
2.7%	5.6

2002	
2005	
2010	

9	
2	
16	

3.0%	8.8
0.8%	1.9
3.6%	15.3

2003	
2006	
2010	

116	
248	
440	

3.3%	1.3
6.6%	2.6
8.6%	4.4

2003	
2007	
2011	

371	
245	
285	

7.8%	14.0
5.2%	9.0
6.4%	10.3

2005	
2010	

5	
7	

2.4%	10.1
2.5%	13.5

2001	
2003	
2010	

11	
8	
8	

2.4%	6.9
1.7%	4.9
1.4%	4.5

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 2 (continued)	

AMERICAS

	
Female	
Date	
Percentage	
Estimated	
Female	
Trend information
	
prison		
of total	
national	
prison		
	
population		
prison	 population	 population	year	
total	 %age	 rate
	
total		population		
rate
St Vincent & the	
6	
28.7.14	
1.5%	
109,000	
5.5	
2001	
8	 2.6%	7.4
Grenadines					
	
2006	
10	 2.7%	9.2
					
	
2010	
9	 2.2%	8.3
Trinidad & Tobago	
90	
avrge 14	
2.6%	
1.34m	
6.7	
2004	
120	 3.1%	9.3
					
	
2009	
148	
4.0%	11.2
Anguilla (UK)	
1	
31.10.14	
1.8%	
14,000	
7.1	
2007	
0	
0.0%	0
					
	
2011	
2	
2.8%	14.3
Aruba (Neth)	
6	
23.10.14	
3.5%	
103,000	
5.8	
2005	
23	 10.0%	23.1
Cayman Is. (UK)	
15	
5.6.14	
7.9%	
55,300	
25.7	
2000	
24	 10.6%	59.7
					
	
2005	
16	
8.4%	33.1
					
	
2010	
11	
5.2%	19.8
Curacao (Neth)	
11	
23.10.14	
3.2%	
154,650	
7.1	
2002	
68	 12.4%	53.3
					
	
2007	
41	
6.9%	28.7
Guadeloupe (Fr)	
20	
1.7.15	
2.2%	
476,000	
4.2	
2003	
9	 1.3%	2.1
					
	
2007	
18	 2.3%	4.0
Martinique (Fr)	
17	
1.7.15	
1.8%	
411,000	
4.1	
2003	
12	 1.9%	3.1
					
	
2007	
15	 2.0%	3.7
Puerto Rico (USA)	
433	
11.13	
3.4%	
3.58m	
12.1	
2004/05	
513	
3.4%	13.2
					
	
2010	
328	 3.0%	8.9
Sint Maarten (Neth)	
8	
23.10.14	
5.0%	
46,400	
17.2	
2002	
7	
5.4%	21.5
					
	
2007	
7	
7.4%	17.5
Virgin Is. (UK)	
7	
4.14	
5.9%	
28,000	
25.0	
2011	
5	
5.0%	18.5
Virgin Is. (USA)	
16	
1.1.11	
2.7%	
106,000	
15.1	
2007	
21	
3.8%	19.6

South America
Argentina	
2,839	
31.12.13	
4.4%	
41.62m	
6.8	
2002	
					
	
2005	
					
	
2010	
Bolivia	
1,724	
.12	
14.7%	
10.50m	
16.4	
2000	
					
	
2005	
					
	
2009	
Brazil	
37,380	
6.14	
6.4%	
202.03m	
18.5	
2000	
					
	
2005	
					
	
2010	
Chile	
3,212	
30.6.15	
7.5%	
17.87m	
18.0	
1999	
					
	
2005	
					
	
2010	
Colombia	
8,482	
30.6.15	
7.0%	
49.53m	
17.1	
2000	
					
	
2005	
					
	
2010	
Ecuador	
1,999	
14.9.14	
7.7%	
16.03m	
12.5	
2002	
					
	
2005	
					
	
2009	
Guyana	
70	
31.12.13	
3.5%	
757,500	
9.2	
2001	
					
	
2006	
					
	
2010	
Paraguay	
776	
3.14	
7.2%	
6.88m	
11.3	
1999	
					
	
2005	
					
	
2010	
Peru	
4,396	
31.3.15	
6.0%	
31.06m	
14.2	
2001	
					
	
2005	
					
	
2010	
Suriname	
28	
.12	
2.8%	
535,000	
5.2	
2000	
					
	
2005	
					
	
2009	
Uruguay	
598	
1.11.14	
6.2%	
3.42m	
17.5	
1999	
					
	
2005	
					
	
2010	
Venezuela	
3,260	
.14	
5.9%	
30.85m	
10.6	
2001	
					
	
2006	
					
	
2010	
Fr. Guiana/ Guyane (Fr)	
61	
1.7.15	
8.4%	
262,000	
23.3	
2003	
						
2007	
Figures are not available for the following country:
Caribbean: Cuba.

6

2,402	
2,172	
2,719	

5.3%	6.4
5.0%	5.6
4.6%	6.7

1,393	 17.1%	16.2
913	 13.4%	9.7
892	 12.0%	8.9
10,112	
20,264	
34,807	

4.3%	
5.8
5.6%	10.8
7.0%	17.8

1,907	
2,527	
4,586	

7.0%	12.6
6.4%	15.6
8.6%	26.8

3,141	
4,122	
5,684	

6.1%	7.8
6.2%	9.5
6.7%	12.2

682	
8.8%	
5.2
1,307	 10.7%	9.4
1,230	 8.0%	8.3
47	
79	
98	

3.1%	6.4
4.0%	10.5
4.5%	13.0

207	
265	
328	

5.1%	4.0
4.2%	4.4
5.3%	5.0

2,054	
2,363	
2,780	

7.6%	7.8
7.0%	8.5
6.0%	9.4

42	
39	
30	

5.9%	9.0
4.8%	7.8
4.9%	5.8

c· 240	
c· 6.0%	
c. 7.3
354	
4.9%	10.7
692	
7.9%	20.5
936	
1,255	
2,399	
34	
54	

5.5%	3.7
6.5%	4.6
6.4%	8.3
5.8%	18.4
7.4%	25.2

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 3	
	
	
	
	

ASIA
Female	
Date	
Percentage	
Estimated	
Female	
Trend information
prison		
of total	
national	
prison		
population		
prison	 population	 population	year	
total	 %age	 rate
total		population		
rate

Western Asia
Bahrain	
189	
12.13	
4.7%	
1.34m	
14.1	
					
	
Iraq	
1,199	
31.12.13	
2.6%	
34.27m	
3.5	
					
	
Israel	
488	
11.11	
2.5%	
7.58m	
6.4	
					
	
					
	
Jordan	
c· 460	
9.14	
c· 4.6%	
6.72m	
c. 6.8	
					
	
Kuwait	
c· 400	
.13	
c· 13.8%	
3.37m	
c. 11.9	
					
	
Lebanon	
295	
11.14	
4.9%	
5.02m	
5.9	
					
	
					
	
Oman	
55	
.02	
4.5%	
2.31m	
2.4	
Qatar	
81	
31.12.08	
14.7%	
1.46m	
5.5	
					
	
Saudi Arabia	
1,639	
.02	
5.7%	
21.83m	
7.5	
Syria	
507*	
.04	
7.4%*	
17.68m	
-	
United Arab Emirates	
1,249	
.06	
11.2%	
4.88m	
25.6	
Yemen	
192	
.13	
1.6%	
26.23m	
0.7	
					
	
					
	

2004	
2009	

101	 23.1%	11.9
57	 11.4%	4.8

2005	
2010	

215	
757	

2.5%	0.8
2.1%	2.4

1999	
2005	
2009	

182	
353	
492	

1.9%	3.1
2.2%	5.3
2.2%	6.7

2005	
2009	

185	
194	

2.9%	3.5
2.7%	3.2

2002	
2009	

108	
211	

5.6%	5.3
5.2%	7.4

2002	
2005	
2009	

358	
225	
336	

4.3%	10.4
3.3%	5.6
7.0%	7.8

2000	

101	

5.0%	4.6

2000	
2005	

67	
103	

11.8%	11.3
19.7%	11.5

2000	

1,570	

6.6%	7.8

2003	

497*	6.7%*	-

2003	

486*	9.6%*	-

2003	
2006	
2009	

263	
184	
170	

1.6%	1.4
1.9%	0.9
1.6%	0.7

Central Asia
Kazakhstan	
3,486	
1.1.15	
7.3%	
16.69m	
20.0	
					
	
					
	
Kyrgyzstan	
528	
1.1.12	
5.4%	
5.43m	
9.7	
					
	
					
	
Tajikistan	
118	
1.1.08	
1.6%	
7.19m	
1.6	
Turkmenistan	
c· 2,000	
.13	
c· 6.5%	
5.24m	
c. 38.2	
					
	

2005	
2008	
2011	
2000	
2005	
2008	
2006	
2003	
2006	

2,899	
3,646	
4,222	

5.5%	19.3
6.6%	23.6
7.6%	26.3

705	
620	
398	

5.1%	14.3
4.6%	12.3
4.7%	7.7

511	

4.7%	7.4

1,507	
1,351	

9.7%	32.4
12.3%	28.1

South Central Asia
Afghanistan	
718	
.14	
2.7%	
35.60m	
2.0	
					
	
					
	
Bangladesh	
2,211	
31.3.14	
3.4%	
158.03m	
1.4	
					
	
					
	
Bhutan	
47	
31.12.13	
4.3%	
760,000	
6.2	
India	
18,188	
31.12.13	
4.4%	
1,259.8m	
1.4	
					
	
					
	
Iran	
c· 6,880	
12.14	
c· 3.1%	
77.71m	
c. 8.9	
					
	
					
	
Maldives	
51	
.14	
4.3%	
352,000	
14.5	
Nepal	
1,222	
10.14	
7.3%	
32.19m	
3.8	
					
	
					
	
Pakistan	
1,650	
4.15	
2.1%	
187.52m	
0.9	
					
	
					
	
Sri Lanka	
932	
mid-14	
4.7%	
21.45m	
4.3	
					
	
					
	

7

2004	
2007	
2010	

103	
304	
566	

2.0%	0.4
2.9%	1.0
3.1%	1.8

2003	
2006	
2010	

1,910	
2,222	
2,324	

2.8%	1.4
3.4%	1.5
3.4%	1.5

2011	

38	

3.8%	5.2

2000	
2005	
2010	

9,089	
13,986	
15,037	

3.3%	0.9
3.9%	1.2
4.1%	1.2

2002	
2006	
2010	

c· 5,970	
c· 5,130	
c· 5,850	

3.5%	
3.5%	
3.5%	

c. 8.6
c. 7.3
c. 8.0

2010	

40	

4.8%	12.3

2006	
2009	
2011	

360	
661	
829	

6.5%	1.3
7.1%	2.2
7.2%	2.7

1999	
2005	
2010	

1,203	
1,323	
931	

1.7%	0.9
1.5%	0.8
1.2%	0.5

2000	
2005	
2010	

662	
906	
1,254	

3.9%	3.5
3.8%	4.5
4.7%	6.0

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 3 (continued)	
	
	
	
	

ASIA

Female	
Date	
Percentage	
Estimated	
Female	
Trend information
prison		
of total	
national	
prison		
population		
prison	 population	 population	year	
total	 %age	 rate
total		population		
rate

South Eastern Asia
Brunei Darussalam	
48	
22.9.14	
8.7%	
428,500	
11.2	
					
	
					
	
Cambodia	
1,331	
15.7.15	
8.1%	
15.69m	
8.5	
					
	
					
	
Indonesia	
8,246	
8.14	
5.1%	
253.18m	
3.3	
					
	
					
	
Laos	
421	
mid-04	
10.5%	
5.70m	
7.4	
Malaysia	
3,538	
mid-14	
7.4%	
30.21m	
11.7	
					
	
					
	
Myanmar	
c· 10,000	
.13	
c· 16.3%	
53.26m	
c. 18.8	
					
	
					
	
Philippines	
10,277	
.14	
8.6%	
99.69m	
10.3	
					
	
					
	
Singapore	
1,247	
31.12.14	
9.9%	
5.72m	
21.8	
					
	
					
	
Thailand	
44,751	
16.7.15	
14.5%	
67.41m	
66.4	
					
	
					
	
Timor-Leste	
16	
31.12.14	
3.5%	
1.16m	
1.4	
					
	
Vietnam	
20,553	
mid-14	
14.4%	
92.55m	
22.2	
					
	

2000	
2005	
2010	

22	
37	
37	

6.6%	6.7
7.5%	10.2
9.8%	9.3

2000	
2005	
2010	
2000	
2005	
2010	

288	
500	
856	
1,807	
4,656	
6,876	

5.2%	2.4
6.1%	3.7
6.1%	6.0
3.4%	0.9
4.7%	2.1
5.8%	2.9

2000	
2005	
2010	

1,246	
2,322	
2,544	

4.8%	5.3
6.5%	8.9
6.6%	9.0

2001	
2007	
2009	

6,034	
9,754	
6,443	

19.1%	12.3
15.0%	19.2
10.7%	12.5

2001	
2005	
2010	

3,324	
7,076	
7,726	

5.3%	3.4
7.8%	8.3
8.1%	8.3

2000	

1,126	

8.2%	28.7

2005	
2010	

1,649	
1,341	

10.9%	38.6
9.8%	26.3

2000	
2005	
2010	

35,803	
28,452	
29,175	

17.4%	57.4
17.2%	43.4
14.6%	43.9

not available

2003	
2009	

1	
4	

0.3%	0.1
1.8%	0.4

2005	
2010	

10,990	
12,591	

12.4%	12.9
11.6%	14.1

2000	
2005	
2010	

47,100*	3.3%*	77,279*	4.9%*	84,600*	5.1%*	-

Eastern Asia
China	
103,766*	
mid-14	
6.3%*	
1,393.8m	
-	
					
	
					
	
Japan	
5,044	
mid-14	
8.2%	
127.1m	
4.0	
					
	
					
	
Korea (Rep. of)	
3,025	
31.7.14	
6.0%	
49.08m	
6.2	
					
	
					
	
Mongolia	
348	
10.9.14	
4.5%	
2.94m	
11.8	
					
	
					
	
Hong Kong (China)	
1,607	
31.12.14	
19.4%	
7.26m	
22.1	
					
	
					
	
Macau (China)	
217	
30.4.15	
17.7%	
646,600	
33.6	
					
	
					
	
Taiwan	
5,405	
31.5.15	
8.6%	
23.46m	
23.0	
* These figures relate only to convicted prisoners. Full figures are not available.
Figures are not available for the following countries:
Central Asia: Uzbekistan. Eastern Asia: Democratic People’s Republic of (North) Korea

8

2000	
2005	
2010	

3,302	
4,839	
5,343	

5.4%	2.6
6.1%	3.8
7.3%	4.2

2000	
2005	
2010	

2,951	
2,589	
2,375	

4.8%	6.4
5.5%	5.5
5.2%	4.9

2001	
2005	
2010	

227	
308	
430	

3.4%	9.3
4.4%	12.1
6.1%	15.6

2000	
2005	
2010	

1,321	
2,476	
2,002	

11.8%	19.8
20.4%	36.4
19.7%	28.5

2000	
2005	
2010	

64	
82	
136	

7.3%	14.9
9.2%	17.3
14.8%	25.3

not available

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 4	
	
	
	
	

EUROPE
Female	
Date	
Percentage	
Estimated	
Female	
Trend information
prison		
of total	
national	
prison		
population		
prison	 population	 population	year	
total	 %age	 rate
total		population		
rate

Northern Europe
Denmark	
139	
1.5.15	
4.0%	
5.67m	
2.5	
					
	
					
	
Estonia	
154	
27.7.15	
5.5%	
1.31m	
11.8	
					
	
					
	
Finland	
234	
16.5.15	
7.5%	
5.47m	
4.3	
					
	
					
	
Iceland	
5	
1.9.13	
3.3%	
324,400	
1.5	
					
	
					
	
Ireland	
124	
31.7.15	
3.3%	
4.64m	
2.7	
					
	
					
	
Latvia	
343	
31.12.14	
7.2%	
1.986m	
17.3	
					
	
					
	
Lithuania	
389	
1.9.14	
4.4%	
2.93m	
13.3	
					
	
					
	
Norway	
217	
13.5.15	
5.8%	
5.19m	
4.2	
					
	
					
	
Sweden	
326	
1.10.14	
5.6%	
9.71m	
3.4	
					
	
					
	
UK: England & Wales	
3,922	
31.7.15	
4.6%	
57.90m	
6.8	
					
	
					
	
UK: Northern Ireland	
54	
31.7.15	
3.2%	
1.85m	
2.9	
					
	
					
	
UK: Scotland	
383	
31.7.15	
5.2%	
5.37m	
7.1	
					
	
					
	
Faeroes (Denmark)*	
0*	
avrge 13	
1.6%	
48,120	
0.3	
					
	
Guernsey (UK)	
5	
24.10.14	
5.2%	
64,800	
7.7	
					
	
					
	
Isle of Man (UK)	
2	
9.11.14	
2.4%	
86,300	
2.3	
					
	
					
	
Jersey (UK)	
6	
17.11.14	
4.5%	
100,700	
6.0	
					
	
					
	

2000	
2005	
2010	

164	
184	
183	

5.0%	3.1
4.5%	3.4
4.6%	3.3

2000	
2005	
2010	

203	
212	
196	

4.2%	14.9
4.8%	15.7
5.7%	14.7

2000	
2005	
2010	

142	
238	
258	

5.3%	2.7
6.2%	4.5
7.8%	4.8

2000	
2005	
2010	

3	
7	
8	

3.7%	1.1
5.9%	2.4
4.8%	2.5

2000	
2005	
2010	

84	
102	
154	

2.9%	2.2
3.4%	2.4
3.5%	3.4

2000	
2005	
2010	

421	
411	
438	

4.9%	17.7
5.7%	17.9
6.5%	20.7

2000	
2005	

263	
263	

3.0%	7.5
3.3%	7.7

2010	

408	

4.6%	12.8

2000	
2005	
2010	

147	
155	
224	

5.6%	3.3
5.0%	3.3
6.2%	4.6

2000	
2005	
2010	

288	
368	
405	

5.1%	3.2
5.2%	4.1
5.7%	4.3

2000	
2005	
2010	

3,350	
4,467	
4,236	

5.2%	6.4
5.9%	8.4
5.0%	7.7

2000	
2005	
2010	

23	
32	
43	

2.2%	1.4
2.5%	1.9
2.9%	2.4

2000	
2005	
2010	

203	
332	
443	

3.3%	4.0
4.9%	6.5
5.6%	8.5

2005	
2010	

0	
0.0%	0
0*	 2.0%	0.4

2001	
2006	
2010	

7	 10.0%	11.2
4	 3.5%	6.2
6	 8.7%	9.1

2000	
2005	
2010	

2	
2	
8	

2001	
2006	
2010	

3.7%	2.6
3.3%	2.5
8.2%	9.5

14	
16	
20	

10.4%	15.8
9.1%	17.4
10.4%	20.6

103	
126	
93	

3.0%	3.3
2.6%	4.0
2.0%	2.9

Southern Europe
Albania	
93	
9.14	
1.7%	
2.89m	
3.2	
2005	
					
	
2008	
					
	
2010	
Andorra	
10	
8.14	
18.2%	
76,250	
13.1	
2002	
					
	
2006	
					
	
2010	
Bosnia & Herzegovina 	
49	
1.9.12	
2.9%	
2.35m	
2.1	
2001	
- Federation					
	
2005	
					
	
2010	
Bosnia & Herzegovina 	
17	
31.12.14	
1.8%	
1.32m	
1.3	
2001	
- Republika Srpska					
	
2005	
						
2010	
Croatia	
195	
25.11.14	
5.1%	
4.24m	
4.6	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	

4	 7.3%	6.0
1	 3.3%	1.2
6	 16.7%	7.7
33	
40	
46	

2.4%	1.4
2.8%	1.7
2.6%	2.0

23	
14	
19	

2.7%	1.6
1.5%	1.0
1.8%	1.4

74	
140	
225	

3.7%	1.6
4.0%	3.2
4.6%	5.1

* Faeroes (Denmark). The asterisked figures are both averages that have been rounded down: the actual figures are 0.19 in 2010 and 0.15 in 2013.

9

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 4 (continued)	

EUROPE

	
Female	
Date	
Percentage	
Estimated	
Female	
Trend information
	
prison		
of total	
national	
prison		
	
population		
prison	 population	 population	year	
total	 %age	 rate
	
total		population		
rate
Cyprus	
45	
1.9.13	
7.6%	
860,600	
5.2	
2000	
14	 4.5%	2.0
						
2005	
18	 3.4%	2.4
						
2010	
38	 6.0%	4.6
Greece	
588	
11.14	
4.9%	
10.80m	
5.4	
2000	
358	 4.7%	3.3
						
2005	
594	 6.8%	5.4
						
2010	
554	 4.9%	4.9
Italy	
2,122	
31.7.15	
4.1%	
60.80m	
3.5	
2000	
2,235	 4.2%	3.9
						
2005	
2,843	 4.8%	4.8
						
2010	
2,995	 4.5%	4.9
Kosovo	
49	
1.10.14	
2.7%	
1.82m	
2.7	
2003	
25	 2.1%	1.2
						
2007	
34	 2.7%	1.6
						
2010	
35	 2.4%	1.6
Macedonia	
91	
10.14	
3.5%	
2.07m	
4.4	
2000	
32	 2.3%	1.6
						
2005	
66	 3.1%	3.2
						
2010	
59	 2.3%	2.9
Malta	
37	
8.14	
6.3%	
425,900	
8.7	
2002	
11	 3.9%	2.8
						
2006	
14	 4.1%	3.5
						
2010	
34	 5.7%	8.2
Montenegro	
28	
9.14	
2.6%	
621,900	
4.5	
2002	
18	 2.5%	2.9
						
2006	
17	 2.0%	2.7
						
2009	
41	 2.7%	6.7
Portugal	
838	
15.7.15	
5.9%	
10.35m	
8.1	
2000	
1,216	
9.4%	11.9
						
2005	
875	 6.8%	8.3
						
2010	
627	 5.4%	5.9
San Marino	
0	
1.9.13	
.0%	
33,700	
0	
2002	
0	
0.0%	0
						
2005	
0	
0.0%	0
						
2010	
0	
0.0%	0
Serbia	
414	
31.12.13	
4.1%	
7.15m	
5.8	
2000	
116	 1.9%	1.5
						
2005	
231	 3.0%	3.1
						
2010	
348	 3.1%	4.8
Slovenia	
84	
25.5.15	
5.6%	
2.06m	
4.1	
2000	
40	 3.5%	2.0
						
2005	
48	 4.2%	2.4
						
2010	
53	 3.9%	2.6
Spain	
4,982	
24.7.15	
7.7%	
46.40m	
10.7	
2000	
3,668	 8.1%	9.1
						
2005	
4,744	
7.7%	10.9
						
2010	
6,009	
7.9%	13.0
Gibraltar (UK)	
2	
27.11.09	
3.9%	
29,420	
6.8	
2001	
0	
0.0%	0
						
2006	
1	 2.6%	3.5

Western Europe
Austria	
530	
1.11.14	
6.0%	
8.55m	
6.2	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Belgium	
502	
1.3.14	
4.3%	
11.24m	
4.5	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
France	
2,032	
1.7.15	
3.3%	
64.34m	
3.2	
2000	
(metropolitan France)						
2005	
						
2010	
Germany	
3,753	
31.3.15	
5.9%	
81.29m	
4.6	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Liechtenstein	
2	
1.9.13	
22.2%	
37,030	
5.4	
2002	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Luxembourg	
26	
1.1.15	
4.1%	
562,400	
4.6	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Monaco	
4	
9.14	
17.4%	
37,550	
10.7	
2003	
						
2006	
						
2010	
Netherlands	
687	
30.9.13	
5.4%	
16.82m	
4.1	
2001	
						
2006	
						
2010	
Switzerland	
328	
3.9.14	
4.7%	
8.20m	
4.0	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	

10

406	
442	
534	

5.9%	5.1
5.0%	5.4
6.2%	6.4

358	
391	
419	

4.1%	3.5
4.2%	3.7
4.0%	3.9

1,833	
2,145	
2,200	

3.8%	3.1
3.7%	3.5
3.4%	3.5

3,515	
4,037	
3,727	

4.4%	4.3
5.0%	4.9
5.2%	4.6

0	
0	
1	

0.0%	0
0.0%	0
7.1%	2.8

20	
32	
25	

5.1%	4.6
4.6%	6.9
3.6%	4.9

3	 10.7%	8.5
11	 29.7%	31.2
3	 25.0%	8.5
1,232	
1,835	
1,161	

8.2%	7.7
8.7%	11.2
7.4%	7.0

383	
332	
347	

6.0%	5.3
5.4%	4.5
5.6%	4.4

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 4 (continued)	
	
	
	
	

EUROPE

Female	
Date	
Percentage	
Estimated	
Female	
Trend information
prison		
of total	
national	
prison		
population		
prison	 population	 population	year	
total	 %age	 rate
total		population		
rate

Central & Eastern Europe
Belarus	
2,830	
31.12.09	
6.8%	
9.48m	
29.9	
2000	
					
	
2005	
Bulgaria	
292	
10.14	
3.2%	
7.21m	
4.0	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2009	
Czech Rep.	
1,350	
31.7.15	
6.6%	
10.55m	
12.8	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Hungary	
1,377	
26.3.15	
7.6%	
9.84m	
14.0	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Moldova	
422	
1.9.13	
6.3%	
3.56m	
11.9	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Poland	
2,631	
30.6.15	
3.5%	
38.00m	
6.9	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Romania	
1,508	
30.6.15	
5.1%	
19.82m	
7.6	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Slovakia	
639	
1.7.15	
6.3%	
5.42m	
11.8	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Ukraine	
7,977	
1.12.13	
6.2%	
45.18m	
17.7	
2002	
						
2006	
						
2010	

3,368	
3,098	

6.0%	33.7
7.5%	31.8

274	
373	
298	

2.9%	3.4
3.0%	4.8
3.0%	3.9

968	
904	
1,293	

4.5%	9.4
4.8%	8.8
5.9%	12.3

976	
960	
1,033	

6.3%	9.6
6.2%	9.5
6.3%	10.3

387	
445	
401	

4.0%	10.7
4.9%	12.4
6.3%	11.3

1,729	
2,359	
2,597	

2.5%	4.5
2.8%	6.2
3.2%	6.7

1,931	
1,696	
1,273	

4.0%	8.6
4.6%	7.8
4.5%	6.3

259	
399	
564	

3.6%	4.8
4.3%	7.4
5.6%	10.4

11,727	
10,085	
9,139	

5.9%	24.4
6.1%	21.6
6.0%	20.0

Europe/Asia
Armenia	
199	
1.1.14	
5.1%	
2.98m	
6.7	
2002	
			
			
2005	
						
2009	
Azerbaijan	
632	
.14	
2.8%	
9.54m	
6.6	
2002	
						
2005	
						
2009	
Georgia	
307	
30.4.15	
2.9%	
3.73m	
8.2	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	
Russian Federation	
53,304	
1.7.15	
8.1%	
144.3m	
36.9	
2002	
						
2006	
						
2010	
Turkey	
5,971	
2.3.15	
3.6%	
77.88m	
7.7	
2000	
						
2005	
						
2010	

11

123	
78	
159	

2.2%	4.0
2.8%	2.6
4.0%	5.4

274	
266	
433	

1.5%	3.3
1.6%	3.2
2.1%	4.8

219	
283	
1,174	

2.6%	5.0
2.9%	6.4
5.0%	26.3

53,683	
58,400	
67,900	
2,591	
1,802	
4,218	

5.8%	37.0
6.7%	41.0
8.1%	47.6
3.6%	3.8
3.3%	2.5
3.5%	5.8

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 5	

OCEANIA

	
Female	
Date	
Percentage	
Estimated	
Female	
Trend information
	
prison		
of total	
national	
prison		
	
population		
prison	 population	 population	year	
total	 %age	 rate
	
total		population		
rate
Australia	
2,805	
3.15	
7.8%	
23.75m	
11.8	
2000	
1,385	 6.4%	7.2
					
	
2005	
1,734	 6.8%	8.5
					
	
2010	
2,228	
7.5%	10.1
Fiji	
47	
mid-14	
3.1%	
887,000	
5.3	
2000	
17	 1.4%	2.1
					
	
2005	
23	 2.1%	2.8
					
	
2010	
32	 2.9%	3.7
Kiribati	
3	
mid-14	
2.5%	
104,000	
2.9	
2000	
1	 1.8%	1.2
					
	
2005	
1	 1.4%	1.1
					
	
2010	
3	 3.3%	3.1
Marshall Is.	
0	
9.14	
0%	
53,000	
0	
2005	
2	 4.7%	3.8
					
	
2010	
0	0%	 0
Federated States of	
0	
31.12.14	
0%	
104,000	
0	
2005	
0	0%	 0
Micronesia					
	
2011	
3	 3.2%	2.9
Nauru	
1	
11.14	
7.1%	
10,000	
10.0	
2005	
0	0%	 0
					
	
2010	
1	
5.0%	10.0
New Zealand	
561	
31.12.14	
6.5%	
4.54m	
12.4	
2000	
266	 4.7%	6.9
					
	
2005	
435	
6.1%	10.5
					
	
2010	
562	
6.4%	12.9
Palau	
4	
.14	
5.6%	
21,000	
19.0	
2003	
7	
6.9%	35.0
					
	
2005	
8	
8.6%	40.0
					
	
2010	
4	
5.1%	20.0
Papua New Guinea	
228	
5.11.14	
5.0%	
7.53m	
3.0	
2001	
101	 3.1%	1.8
					
	
2005	
201	 5.0%	3.3
					
	
2010	
230	 5.4%	3.3
Samoa	
35	
10.14	
7.3%	
192,500	
18.2	
2000	
14	 8.1%	8.0
					
	
2005	
11	 4.5%	6.1
					
	
2011	
28	
6.6%	14.9
Solomon Is.	
2	
9.14	
0.6%	
575,000	
0.3	
1999	
1	 0.7%	0.2
					
	
2005	
2	 0.7%	0.4
					
	
2010	
0	0%	 0
Tonga	
8	
7.14	
4.5%	
106,000	
7.5	
2000	
1	
1.5%	
1.0
					
	
2005	
7	 5.5%	6.9
					
	
2010	
7	 4.4%	6.7
Tuvalu	
0	
8.14	
0%	
10,000	
0	
2000	
0	0%	 0
					
	
2005	
0	0%	 0
					
	
2010	
0	0%	 0
Vanuatu	
1	
31.12.12	
0.5%	
255,000	
0.4	
1999	
1	 2.2%	0.6
					
	
2005	
6	 4.3%	2.8
					
	
2010	
3	 1.6%	1.3
American Samoa (USA)	
17	
31.12.07	
7.2%	
57,500	
29.6	
2004	
15	
8.6%	25.4
Cook Is. (NZ)	
0	
21.11.11	
0%	
20,000	
0	
2000	
1	 4.3%	5.6
					
	
2005	
1	 3.7%	5.3
French Polynesia (Fr)	
17	
1.7.15	
3.8%	
284,000	
6.0	
2003	
12	 4.1%	4.9
					
	
2007	
12	 3.0%	4.6
Guam (USA)	
46	
30.3.15	
5.8%	
170,000	
27.1	
2005	
31	
6.2%	19.6
					
	
2009	
21	
4.1%	13.2
New Caledonia (Fr)	
7	
1.7.15	
1.5%	
271,000	
2.6	
2003	
4	 1.3%	1.8
					
	
2007	
9	 2.8%	3.8
Northern Mariana Is.
(USA)	
8	
31.12.07	
5.8%	
63,500	
12.6	
not available			

Sources The figures in the above tables originate almost always from the national prison administrations. Some were obtained indirectly, via the
Ministry responsible for prisons, via national statistical offices, via United Nations surveys, via surveys for the annual meetings of the Asian and
Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators, via the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics (SPACE) or via U.S. State Department human
rights reports.

12

World Female Imprisonment List (third edition)
Table 6	
	
	
	
	

Female prison population levels – summary by continent
Female	
prison	
population	
total	

Women/girls as	
percentage of total	
prison population	
(median)	

Female prison population
rate per 100,000 of
national population
(median)

AFRICA	30,675	

2.8%	

AMERICAS	297,663	

4.9%	

ASIA	264,625	

6.0%	

7.5

EUROPE	103,250	

4.9%	

5.4

OCEANIA	3,790	

4.15%	

5.65

WORLD	700,003	

4.4%	

6.0

Table 7	

2.5
12.15

Female prison population levels – change since about the year 2000

	
Estimated female	
Latest available	
Change in female	
Change in national
	
prison population	
female prison	
prison population total	
populations mid-2000
	
total at about 2000*	
population total	
since about 2000	
to mid-2014
				
(United Nations)
AFRICA	

25,020*	

30,675	

+ 22.6%	

+ 40.8%

AMERICAS	

196,307*	

297,663	

+ 51.6%	

+ 16.6%

ASIA	

143,815*	

264,625	

+ 84.0%	

+ 16.8%

EUROPE	

98,906*	

103,250	

+ 4.4%	

+ 3.4%

OCEANIA	

1,864*	

3,790	

+ 103.3%	

+ 24.4%

WORLD	465,912*	

700,003	

+50.2%	

+ 18.2%

*	For more details on the figures in this column see Walmsley R. (2015, forthcoming), ‘Variations and growth in the levels of female
imprisonment’, in Women in Prison: the Bangkok Rules and Beyond, proceedings of a colloquium held in Bangkok in March 2014,
International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation.

Roy Walmsley is Director of the World Prison Brief, a comprehensive online database of information on the prison systems of
the world, which can be accessed free of charge at www.prisonstudies.org He also researches and compiles the World Prison
Population List (tenth edition, 2013) and the World Pre-trial/Remand Imprisonment List (second edition, 2014).
Until 2014 the International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS) hosted the World Prison Brief and published the Lists. In November
2014, ICPS merged with the Institute for Criminal Policy Research at Birkbeck, University of London, which now hosts the World
Prison Brief and publishes the Lists.

Institute for Criminal Policy Research
www.prisonstudies.org
www.icpr.org.uk

13