Comparison of United States incarceration rate with other countries
Updated: Wikipedia source
In 2022, the United States had 1,808,100 inmates in adult facilities (prisons and jails), at a rate of 541 per 100,000 population. That was the 5th highest rate in the world. In 2021, the United States had 1,767,200 inmates in adult facilities (prisons and jails). This left America with the highest prison population if China's latest official number (2018) of 1,690,000 (sentenced prisoners only) were used. According to the World Prison Brief the total number in China would be much higher if pre-trial detainees and those held in administrative detention were added, and yet more depending on the number of Uyghurs being held. The 2021 US incarceration rate of 531 per 100,000 population was the 6th highest rate. According to the World Prison Population List (11th edition) there were around 10.35 million people in penal institutions worldwide in 2015. The US had 2,173,800 prisoners in adult facilities in 2015. That means the US held 21.0% of the world's prisoners in 2015, even though the US represented only around 4.4 percent of the world's population in 2015. In 2015 the US had the 2nd highest incarceration rate (698), behind the Seychelles rate of 799 per 100,000. Comparing English-speaking developed countries; the incarceration rate of Canada was 85 per 100,000 (as of 2020), England and Wales was 146 per 100,000 (as of 2023), and Australia was 158 per 100,000 (as of 2022). Comparing other developed countries, the rate of Spain was 113 per 100,000 (as of 2023), France was 109 per 100,000 (as of 2023), Germany was 67 per 100,000 (as of 2022), Norway was 53 per 100,000 (as of 2023), Netherlands was 65 per 100,000 (as of 2022), Japan was 36 per 100,000 (as of 2021), Sweden was 82 per 100,000 (as of 2023), and Italy was 99 per 100,000 (as of 2023), Comparing other countries with harsh sentencing for illegal drugs, Saudi Arabia was 207 per 100,000 (as of 2017), Russia was 300 per 100,000 (as of 2023), Kazakhstan was 184 per 100,000 (as of 2022), and Singapore was 156 per 100,000 (as of 2022). The incarceration rate of the People's Republic of China varies depending on sources and measures. According to the World Prison Brief, the rate for only sentenced prisoners was 119 per 100,000 (as of 2017). It would be much higher if pre-trial detainees, those held in administrative detention, and Uyghurs being held were included.