The total number of inmates in prisons in Venezuela dropped significantly from 2017 to 2024. During that last year, the number of prisoners was 61 percent lower than in 2017, going from over 57,000 to 22,019 people.

With a total of over 1,215 inmates, the "Internado Judicial Región Capital Rodeo III" is not only one of the prisons with the highest number of prisoners in Venezuela, but also the second most overpopulated. Its capacity is around 450.

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.

During the two presidential terms of Nicolás Maduro, a total of 2,377 prisoners have died in jail. The highest reported number was during 2013 with over 506 people dead while being imprisoned.

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.