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Countries With the Most (and Least) Incarcerated People
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Key Takeaways
- El Salvador, known as the “prison capital of the world”, has the highest incarceration rate globally, at 1,086 per 100,000 people.
- By contrast, Japan has one of the world’s lowest rates at 36 per 100,000 inhabitants.
The world’s criminal justice and prison systems vary significantly from country to country.
Regionally, Latin America and the Caribbean has the highest concentration of incarcerated people, accounting for six of the top 10 highest prison rates in the world. On the other hand, a number of West African countries sit on the opposite end of the spectrum.
This graphic shows the countries with the highest and lowest incarceration rates worldwide, based on data from the Prison Policy Initiative.
Behind Bars: Comparing Incarcerated People by Country
Below, we show the countries that sit at the extremes of global incarceration rates:
| Top 10 Highest Countries | Incarceration Rate(per 100,000 people) | Top 10 Lowest Countries | Incarceration Rate (per 100,000 people) |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Salvador | 1,086 | Gambia | 22 |
| Cuba | 794 | Guinea-Bissau | 31 |
| Rwanda | 637 | Republic of Congo | 33 |
| U.S. | 614 | Guinea | 34 |
| Turkmenistan | 576 | Nigeria | 35 |
| Panama | 499 | Yemen | 35 |
| Uruguay | 424 | Japan | 36 |
| Brazil | 390 | Pakistan | 38 |
| Thailand | 377 | Burkina Faso | 39 |
| Cabo Verde | 366 | Central African Republic | 40 |
Today, at least 52,000 people are in prison in El Salvador, driven by its “state of exception” policy, which drastically reduces the constitutional rights of suspected criminals.
While this has led the homicide rate to fall 80% since 2022, thousands have been arbitrarily detained without access to a timely trial and other legal defenses in efforts to combat gang violence.
Like El Salvador, Cuba has faced mass arrests, typically for political dissidents. The country ranks second globally, with an incarceration rate of 795 per 100,000 people.
On the other hand, Gambia has an incarceration rate of just 22 per 100,000 inhabitants. Overall, Africa is home to seven of the 10 lowest incarceration rates, although prisons remain deeply underfunded.
As we can see, Japan stands as the only developed economy in the bottom 10. In addition, it has one of the lowest homicide rates globally, at 0.23 per 100,000 people—roughly 25 times lower than America.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the average cost per prisoner by U.S. state.