Countries by Prison Population Rate 2024

About This Dataset

Countries ranked by the number of prisoners per 100,000 of national population in 2024, according to the World Prison Brief and Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research. The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country in the world — with approximately 630 prisoners per 100,000 people, the US prison population exceeds 2 million individuals, a consequence of mandatory minimum sentencing, the war on drugs, and structural inequalities in the justice system that have been debated and critiqued across the political spectrum.

Analysis

El Salvador (1,086), Cuba (794) and United States (630) take the top three in Prisoners Per 100,000 Population in 2024. Values run from 1,086 at the top to 38 at the bottom, a spread of 1,048. First and second are separated by 292, so the leader sits inside the field rather than apart from it. Only 4 of the 8 reach even half the leader's figure (543 or more).

Source: Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research

Key Findings

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El Salvador leads in Prisoners Per 100,000 Population with 1,086 in 2024.

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Average Prisoners Per 100,000 Population in 2024: 484 · median: 467.

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Gap in 2024: El Salvador is 28.6× larger than Iceland.

Countries by Prison Population Rate 2024

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Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

Admin

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Data Points

8 categories · 1 year

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Top Value

1,086

El Salvador

Prisoners Per 100,000 Population · 2024

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Metrics

Prisoners Per 100,000 Population

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Period

2024

Single year snapshot

Methodology & source

Data source: Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research
Coverage: 8 entities · 2024 · 8 observations
Measure: Prisoners Per 100,000 Population
Last updated: 6 September 2026
Compiled by: The ANYSTAT team, from the source above

How the figures are calculated

Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2024.