In 2023 Turkey had the highest incarceration rate among European countries, at 408 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Georgia, which had an incarceration of 256. The country with the lowest incarceration rate in this year was Liechtenstein, which had 15 people in prison for every 100,000 inhabitants. Germany had one of the lowest rates of 69 when compared with other major European countries such as France and England & Wales, which had rates of 106 and 136 respectively. The Russian Federation has in previous years been the country with the highest incarceration rate in the Council of Europe's data, however, as the country was removed as a member of the council in 2022 due to their invasion of Ukraine, data for Russia is no longer available.

As of February 2025, El Salvador had the highest prisoner rate worldwide, with over 1,600 prisoners per 100,000 of the national population. Cuba, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, and the United States, rounded out the top five countries with the highest rate of incarceration. Homicides in El Salvador Interestingly, El Salvador, which long had the highest global homicide rates, has dropped out of the top 20 after a high number of gang members have been incarcerated. A high number of the countries with the highest homicide rate are located in Latin America. Prisoners in the United StatesThe United States is home to the largest number of prisoners worldwide. More than 1.8 million people were incarcerated in the U.S. at the beginning of 2025. In China, the estimated prison population totaled 1.69 million people that year. Other nations had far fewer prisoners. The largest share of the U.S. prisoners in federal correctional facilities were of African-American origin. As of 2020, there were 345,500 black, non-Hispanic prisoners, compared to 327,300 white, non-Hispanic inmates. The U.S. states with the largest number of prisoners in 2022 were Texas, California, and Florida. Over 160,000 prisoners in state facilities were sentenced for rape or sexual assault, which was the most common cause of imprisonment. The second most common was murder, followed by aggravated or simple assault.

At the beginning of 2025, the United States had the highest number of incarcerated individuals worldwide, with around 1.8 million people in prison. China followed with around 100,000 fewer prisoners. Brazil followed in third. The incarceration problem in the U.S. The United States has an incredibly high number of incarcerated individuals. Therefore, the incarceration problem has become a widely contested issue, because it impacts disadvantaged people and minorities the most. Additionally, the prison system has become capitalized by outside corporations that fund prisons, but there is still a high cost to taxpayers. Furthermore, there has been an increase in the amount of private prisons that have been created. For-profit prison companies have come under scrutiny because of their lack of satisfactory staff and widespread lobbying. Violent offenses are the most common type of offense among prisoners in the U.S. Incarceration rates worldwide El Salvador had the highest rate of incarceration worldwide, at 1,659 prisoners per 100,000 residents as of February 2025. Cuba followed in second with 794 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants. The incarceration rate is a better measure to use when comparing countries than the total prison populations, which will naturally have the most populous countries topping the list.

The United States had the highest rate of prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants of the G7 countries between 2010 and 2022. In 2022, there were almost *** prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants in the country. By comparison, the Canada, who had the second-highest prisoner rate, had less than ****** prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants. Japan had the lowest rate at **.

With approximately *** million prisoners, China had by far the biggest prison population across the Asia-Pacific region in 2022. In contrast, less than ************ people were incarcerated in Brunei and Timor-Leste, respectively. Prison populations and total populationsThe varying size of prison populations throughout Asia-Pacific can be attributed to the size of the general populations across the region's countries and territories. With a population of over *** billion, China is the most populous country in the world. Despite the disparity in population size, Bhutan, which had one of the smallest prison populations in APAC in 2022, had a higher serious assault rate than other Asia-Pacific counties. Crime ratesApart from the general population size, there are other factors which can be taken into consideration, such as a diversity in justice systems. Therefore, a comparison of crime throughout the region can be challenging. Although China had a higher prison population, it had a lower intentional homicide rate compared to other Asia-Pacific countries and territories. New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong have the lowest corruption index scores in the region, whereas countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, and North Korea have recorded the highest scores.

England and Wales had an incarceration rate of 136.2 per 100,000 people in 2023, compared with 133.2 for Scotland and 90.5 for Northern Ireland. In 2008, Scotland had a higher incarceration rate than England and Wales, but this declined at a faster rate than those two countries after 2012, although the recent uptick in 2019 has seen Scotland once again have the highest incarceration rate in the UK. Northern Ireland has consistently had the lowest incarceration rate in the UK.

The Latin America and Caribbean nation with the highest prison population rate in 2024 was El Salvador, with 1.086 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, the only country to achieve four digits, followed by Cuba with 794 prisoners. Guatemala and Haiti Jamaica had the lowest prison population rates, 123 and 63 per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively.

The South American nation with the highest prison population rate in 2024 was Uruguay, with 449 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Brazil, with 389 prisoners. The country in South America with the lowest prison population rate was Ecuador, with 179 per 100,000 persons.

In 2024, Haiti had a 302 percent level of occupancy in their prison system, being the country with the highest occupancy rate in the Latin America and the Caribbean. It was followed by Guatemala, with almost 300 percent occupancy rate. Among the top ten countries with the most overcrowded national prison system, Panama had the lowest rate, at 163.1 percent. Regarding prison population, El Salvador and Cuba were the Latin American and Caribbean countries that had the largest rates, both with over 500 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants.

The Central American nation with the highest prison population rate was El Salvador, with over 1,000 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Panama with 522 prisoners. The lowest prison population rate of the region was found in Guatemala, with 123 prisoners per 100,000 people.

Haiti had a 302 percent prison occupancy rate in 2024, being the country with the most overcrowded prison system in the Caribbean. Grenada followed at a 266.7 percent. Barbados had the lowest rate, at 61.5 percent. On the other hand, Cuba was the country with the highest prison population rate in the Caribbean and Haiti with the lowest as of 2022.

The Central American nation with the highest prison occupancy rate, as of April 2025, was Guatemala, when the level stood at almost 300 percent of its official capacity. Nicaragua followed with 177.6 percent of occupancy level. The lowest prison occupancy rate was found in Belize, which, with 67 percent, was the only country whose prison system was not overcrowded. That year, El Salvador had the highest prison population rate in Central America.

Mexico had nearly 233,300 prisoners as of December 2023, around 7,200 prisoners more than the prior year. The volume of imprisoned people in the country followed an increasing trend from 2018 to 2023. Prison population That figure places Mexico among the countries with the largest number of prisoners in the world. However, when taking into account incarceration rates, that is, the number of prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, Mexico falls out of the ranking and is, actually, one of the Latin American and Caribbean countries with the lowest rates, exceeded by far by countries like El Salvador and Cuba, which register four times the prison population rate of Mexico.People aged 30 to 39 years made up for the largest share of prisoners in Mexico. However, the share of people deprived of liberty whose age ranged from 18 to 29 years was significantly largest in the case of women, with 32.1 percent of female prisoners pertaining to such age group, while in the case of men it fell to 25.1 percent. Regarding female inmates, approximately a tenth have been pregnant while being in jail. Furthermore, theft was the most commonly committed crime by women in Mexican states' penitentiary centers in 2022, followed by kidnapping and homicide. Preventive prison The main reason for the rapid growth of prison population in Mexico in recent years is the 2019 reform of the article 19 of the Constitution, which has led to the spread of pretrial detention. Pretrial detention is a measure that leads to the imprisonment of people automatically while they are still being investigated, without having been sentenced, and can last up to two years. The reform allowed for automatic preventive imprisonment for a wider range of crimes than before, with the new list including fuel theft (huachicoleo) and burglary, among others. This affects particularly vulnerable people from poor backgrounds, with low education and who commit petty crimes. As of December 2020, 78.6 percent of pre-trial detainees for robbery in Mexico had not been sentenced, which means that less than a fourth of people in jail for robbery had been found guilty in court. The country had an even higher share of unsentenced prisoners for drug trafficking, with 87.8 percent of people being in preventive detention without charge.. One of the reasons behind the high share of prisoners awaiting sentence is the large number of simultaneous cases that public defenders have to attend to. Depending on the Mexican state in which someone is being prosecuted, a public defender can have up to an average of 336.9 simultaneous cases to defend.

On March 16th 2025, Trump's administration deported 238 alleged members of the Venezuela criminal gang Tren de Aragua to the Terrorism Confinement Center (or CECOT) prison in El Salvador. According to official data, the United States will pay around six million U.S. dollars to El Salvador to imprison around 300 deportees from the U.S. for one year. Crime in El Salvador Nayib Bukele is one of the most beloved world leaders, with an approval rate of 93 percent as of July 2024, being crowned with the highest in Latin America. This comes not without a reason, as El Salvador used to be constantly ranked as one of the most violent countries globally due to gang violence, specifically, La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Mara Barrio-18. After a particularly violent couple of days in March 2022, Bukele’s administration called for an Emergency state, with massive incarceration of alleged gang members. The Central American country now ranks with the lowest homicide rate in the region. One of the largest prisons in the world, not without controversy El Salvador ranks by far as the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world. As of February 2025, El Salvador's rate was 1,659 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, more than double when compared to Cuba – which ranks as the second place. The massive incarceration and the measures taken during the emergency state, various countries and international observers called out El Salvador for an approach lacking human rights. As the gang members were heavily mistreated and later on some of them, or their families, were charged 170 US dollars a month for food, clothing, and other services. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of such measures and with almost 90 percent of Salvadoreans feeling safer after the emergency state, Bukele secured a second office term in 2024 with more than 80 percent of the votes.

The number of murders declined considerably in Czechia in the observed period. Although the murder count initially grew from *** in 1991 to a high of *** in 1998, this figure decreased to *** murders in 2023. The lowest number of murders was recorded in 2021 at *** murders in the whole year. Czechia’s criminal situation The Czech Criminal Code defines murder as the intentional killing of another person, with a minimum sentencing of eight to ten years. Such a criminal act is not very common in Czechia. After all, in 2022, the total number of registered criminal acts in Czechia amounted to *******, so the proportion of murders is small.The number of registered crimes is related to the criminal code of each country. However, Czechia was among the ten countries with the highest incarceration rate in Europe in 2022, which in this case is defined as the number of prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants. The high incarceration rate in Czechia is sometimes attributed to long prison sentences, meaning that people accumulate in prisons despite fewer people being sentenced than in other countries lower on the list. Is Czechia a safe country? Despite the high incarceration rate, Czechia is considered to be a very safe country. As of 2023, it was the **** most peaceful country ranked according to the Global Peace Index, which assesses the safety and security of society. It ranked above some fellow European countries like Germany, Finland, and the Netherlands.

In 2023, there were 91.23 criminal offenses reported per 1,000 inhabitants in Finland. Despite a decreasing trend until recent years, 2020 saw a considerable increase in the number of crimes, having reached a high of 98.2 per 1,000 population. Finland has one of the lowest incarceration rates in Europe In general, Finland is known as a safe country, with crime levels being comparable to those of other Nordic countries. Traffic offenses, along with property offenses, are the most common types of crime. In terms of imprisonment, Finland has one of the lowest incarceration rates in Europe. Currently, Finland has several closed and open prisons, which a focus on rehabilitation and reintegration into society. This “softer” approach to punishing crime has also been linked to falling recidivism rates. Sexual and domestic violence most often affects women Women constituted almost 67.8 percent of domestic violence victims in Finland in 2023. Furthermore, the number of female, as well as male, victims was higher than in the previous year. The Finnish government is addressing this problem by promoting sexual and reproductive health and the rights of women and girls, along with placing the human rights of women as one of its priorities.

Turks and Caicos Islands saw a murder rate of ***** per 100,000 inhabitants, making it the most dangerous country for this kind of crime worldwide as of 2024. Interestingly, El Salvador, which long had the highest global homicide rates, has dropped out of the top 29 after a high number of gang members have been incarcerated. Meanwhile, Colima in Mexico was the most dangerous city for murders. Violent conflicts worldwide Notably, these figures do not include deaths that resulted from war or a violent conflict. While there is a persistent number of conflicts worldwide, resulting casualties are not considered murders. Partially due to this reason, homicide rates in Latin America are higher than those in Afghanistan or Syria. A different definition of murder in these circumstances could change the rate significantly in some countries. Causes of death Also, noteworthy is that murders are usually not random events. In the United States, the circumstances of murders are most commonly arguments, followed by narcotics incidents and robberies. Additionally, murders are not a leading cause of death. Heart diseases, strokes and cancer pose a greater threat to life than violent crime.

Iceland was the most peaceful country in the world in 2025 with an index value of 1.1. Ireland, New Zealand, and Austria followed behind.What is the Global Peace Index? The Global Peace Index is an effort by the Institute for Economics and Peace to measure the degree of peacefulness in countries across the world and rank them accordingly. The first list was created in 2007 and has since then been published annually. The index includes a number of indicators relating to both domestic and international peacefulness. International indicators In regards to international affairs the majority of indicators relate to involvement in military conflict or the efforts of the state in question to resolve conflict and ensure the safety of those affected. For example those states that give more financial support to UN peacekeeping missions are considered to be more peaceful while those who have a higher military expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) are considered to be less peaceful. The United States never reached the top 20 of the list, in part due to it having a high level of military spending as a percentage of GDP. Domestic factors Domestic indicators focus on both the amount of violence and crime in addition to incarceration rates. Again, the United States fails to reach levels akin to other countries. The country’s incarceration rates are significantly higher than in other OEDC countries. Moreover, the number of deaths from gun violence also contributes to the relatively low peacefulness ranking of the United States.

Among Caribbean countries, Haiti had in 2022 the highest rate of pre-trial detainees, 81.9 percent of people in prison were awaiting for trial. St. Lucia followed with over two-thirds, 68.5 percent. Puerto Rico had the lowest share, at 13.1 percent. Haiti was also the Caribbean country with the highest level of occupancy in their prison system that year.

As of October 2024, the operational capacity of Italian prisons was about 51,100 inmates. However, there were roughly 62,100 prisoners incarcerated in all Italian penal institutions, over 11,000 more than the regulatory capacity. Indeed, most Italian regions were affected by the overpopulation of jails. Prison population in Italy Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the number of inmates in Italian jails remained rather stable. In the period between 2000 and 2019, the lowest prison population was registered in 2006, whereas the highest number of inmates in custody was reported in 2010. However, the number of detainees in 2020 experienced a decrease. During the coronavirus emergency, certain prisoners were released under supervision in order to reduce overcrowding. Perception of prison overpopulation Italians are aware that the number of inmates in the country’s prisons exceeds the operational capacity. However, in 2018 Italian respondents believed that the penal institutions in their country were more overcrowded than they actually were.