International Imprisonment Rates

This graph shows the imprisonment rates for 19 of the Group of Twenty countries (the European Union is excluded). Of these countries, the United States of America had the highest imprisonment rate in 2017, at 666 prisoners per 100,000 people. This rate was second in the world only to the archipelago of Seychelles, at 738 per 100,000 people. In contrast, Australia as a whole had an imprisonment rate of 167 prisoners per 100,000 people, and Victoria had a rate of 113 prisoners per 100,000 people.

Imprisonment rates per 100,000 people for 19 Group of Twenty countries and Victoria in 2017

Hover over a bar in the graph to display the imprisonment rate and global ranking for that jurisdiction.

Source: Institute for Criminal Policy Research, World Prison Brief, Highest to Lowest - Prison Population Rate (external link opens in a new window).