United States -- Land of the Free? Compare the absolute numbers by country

Out of all the people in the world currently in prison, 25 % are in the United States, while the US only represents 4.3% of the world’s population. Is "the land of the free" some kind of a sick joke? 


These numbers are unprecedented. Never before, not even in Hitler’s Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union under Stalin, were the absolute and per capita numbers of people under guard and behind bars this high.


In poor states with fewer jobs, such as West Virginia, as many as 6.8 people out of 100 are incarcerated.

Crime Statistics > Prisoners (most recent) by country

VIEW DATA:  Totals

Showing latest available data.

Rank	Countries	Amount
# 1	United States:	2,019,234 prisoners
# 2	China:	1,549,000 prisoners
# 3	Russia:	846,967 prisoners
# 4	India:	313,635 prisoners
# 5	Brazil:	308,304 prisoners
# 6	Thailand:	213,815 prisoners
# 7	Ukraine:	198,386 prisoners
# 8	South Africa:	181,944 prisoners
# 9	Mexico:	172,888 prisoners
# 10	Iran:	163,526 prisoners
# 11	Rwanda:	112,000 prisoners
# 12	Pakistan:	87,000 prisoners
# 13	Indonesia:	84,357 prisoners
# 14	Poland:	80,467 prisoners
# 15	United Kingdom:	78,753 prisoners
# 16	Germany:	74,904 prisoners
# 17	Bangladesh:	74,170 prisoners
# 18	Philippines:	70,383 prisoners
# 19	Japan:	69,502 prisoners
# 20	Turkey:	64,051 prisoners
# 21	Egypt:	61,845 prisoners
# 22	Spain:	59,251 prisoners
# 23	Korea, South:	58,564 prisoners
# 24	Kazakhstan:	58,300 prisoners
# 25	France:	56,957 prisoners
# 26	Taiwan:	56,225 prisoners
# 27	Italy:	55,670 prisoners
# 28	Vietnam:	55,000 prisoners
# 29	Morocco:	54,351 prisoners
# 30	Colombia:	54,034 prisoners
# 31	Belarus:	51,238 prisoners
# 32	Romania:	48,075 prisoners
# 33	Uzbekistan:	48,000 prisoners
# 34	Argentina:	44,969 prisoners
# 35	Tanzania:	43,244 prisoners
# 36	Nigeria:	40,447 prisoners
# 37	Malaysia:	39,258 prisoners
# 38	Chile:	36,636 prisoners
# 39	Canada:	35,519 prisoners
# 40	Kenya:	35,278 prisoners
# 41	Algeria:	34,243 prisoners
# 42	Burma:	32,797 prisoners
# 43	Saudi Arabia:	28,612 prisoners
# 44	Peru:	27,417 prisoners
# 45	Tunisia:	23,165 prisoners
# 46	Australia:	22,492 prisoners
# 47	Madagascar:	20,109 prisoners
# 48	Cameroon:	20,000 prisoners
# 49	Sri Lanka:	19,974 prisoners
# 50	Kyrgyzstan:	19,500 prisoners
# 51	Venezuela:	19,255 prisoners
# 52	Azerbaijan:	19,136 prisoners
# 53	Czech Republic:	18,669 prisoners
# 54	Hungary:	17,862 prisoners
# 55	Netherlands:	16,930 prisoners
# 56	Singapore:	16,310 prisoners
= 57	Yemen:	14,000 prisoners
= 57	Syria:	14,000 prisoners
# 59	Portugal:	13,918 prisoners
# 60	Dominican Republic:	13,836 prisoners
# 61	Zambia:	13,173 prisoners
# 62	Honduras:	11,502 prisoners
# 63	Lithuania:	11,070 prisoners
# 64	El Salvador:	11,055 prisoners
# 65	Israel:	11,027 prisoners
# 66	Ghana:	10,992 prisoners
# 67	Moldova:	10,903 prisoners
# 68	Panama:	10,350 prisoners
# 69	Bulgaria:	9,918 prisoners
# 70	Libya:	9,763 prisoners
# 71	Greece:	8,841 prisoners
# 72	Mozambique:	8,812 prisoners
# 73	Burundi:	8,647 prisoners
# 74	Belgium:	8,605 prisoners
# 75	Malawi:	8,566 prisoners
# 76	Costa Rica:	8,526 prisoners
# 77	Latvia:	8,483 prisoners
# 78	Bolivia:	8,315 prisoners
# 79	Guatemala:	8,307 prisoners
# 80	Ecuador:	8,274 prisoners
# 81	Austria:	8,114 prisoners
# 82	Mongolia:	7,871 prisoners
# 83	Slovakia:	7,758 prisoners
# 84	Nicaragua:	7,198 prisoners
# 85	Nepal:	7,132 prisoners
# 86	Uruguay:	7,100 prisoners
# 87	Georgia:	6,406 prisoners
# 88	Cambodia:	6,346 prisoners
# 89	Angola:	6,008 prisoners
# 90	New Zealand:	5,968 prisoners
# 91	Sweden:	5,920 prisoners
# 92	Botswana:	5,890 prisoners
# 93	Jordan:	5,589 prisoners
# 94	Lebanon:	5,535 prisoners
# 95	Senegal:	5,360 prisoners
# 96	Switzerland:	4,982 prisoners
# 97	Benin:	4,961 prisoners
# 98	Namibia:	4,814 prisoners
# 99	Trinidad and Tobago:	4,794 prisoners
# 100	Jamaica:	4,744 prisoners
# 101	Estonia:	4,571 prisoners
# 102	Central African Republic:	4,168 prisoners
# 103	Haiti:	4,152 prisoners
# 104	Paraguay:	4,088 prisoners
# 105	Mali:	4,040 prisoners
# 106	Chad:	3,883 prisoners
# 107	Denmark:	3,435 prisoners
# 108	Finland:	3,433 prisoners
# 109	Papua New Guinea:	3,302 prisoners
# 110	Swaziland:	3,245 prisoners
# 111	Guinea:	3,070 prisoners
# 112	Lesotho:	3,000 prisoners
# 113	Kuwait:	2,946 prisoners
# 114	Norway:	2,914 prisoners
# 115	Armenia:	2,866 prisoners
# 116	Burkina Faso:	2,800 prisoners
# 117	Croatia:	2,611 prisoners
# 118	Mauritius:	2,565 prisoners
# 119	Togo:	2,043 prisoners
# 120	Suriname:	1,933 prisoners
# 121	Albania:	1,532 prisoners
# 122	Guyana:	1,507 prisoners
# 123	Oman:	1,403 prisoners
# 124	Mauritania:	1,354 prisoners
# 125	Bahamas, The:	1,280 prisoners
# 126	Cyprus:	1,254 prisoners
# 127	Slovenia:	1,099 prisoners
# 128	Belize:	1,097 prisoners
# 129	Barbados:	992 prisoners
# 130	Fiji:	982 prisoners
# 131	Congo, Democratic Republic of the:	918 prisoners
# 132	Bahrain:	911 prisoners
# 133	Qatar:	570 prisoners
# 134	Gambia, The:	450 prisoners
# 135	Djibouti:	384 prisoners
# 136	Saint Lucia:	365 prisoners
# 137	Luxembourg:	341 prisoners
# 138	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines:	302 prisoners
# 139	Dominica:	298 prisoners
# 140	Grenada:	297 prisoners
# 141	Malta:	283 prisoners
# 142	Antigua and Barbuda:	186 prisoners
# 143	Seychelles:	157 prisoners
# 144	Saint Kitts and Nevis:	135 prisoners
# 145	Solomon Islands:	134 prisoners
# 146	Sao Tome and Principe:	130 prisoners
# 147	Tonga:	113 prisoners
# 148	Iceland:	104 prisoners
# 149	Palau:	103 prisoners
# 150	Vanuatu:	93 prisoners
# 151	Andorra:	61 prisoners
# 152	Kiribati:	55 prisoners
# 153	Micronesia, Federated States of:	39 prisoners
# 154	Marshall Islands:	23 prisoners
# 155	Liechtenstein:	18 prisoners
# 156	Monaco:	13 prisoners
= 157	Nauru:	6 prisoners
= 157	Tuvalu:	6 prisoners
= 159	Comoros:	0 prisoners
= 159	Tajikistan:	0 prisoners
= 159	United Arab Emirates:	0 prisoners
= 159	Uganda:	0 prisoners
= 159	Sudan:	0 prisoners
= 159	Cuba:	0 prisoners
= 159	Niger:	0 prisoners
= 159	Turkmenistan:	0 prisoners

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