Countries with the most prisoners 2021

As of July 2021, the United States had the highest number of incarcerated individuals worldwide, with almost 2.1 million people in prison. The U.S. was followed by China, Brazil, India, and the Russian Federation.

The incarceration problem

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 which fund prisons, but there is still a high cost to tax-payers. 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.

Prisoners in the U.S.

Within OECD countries, the United States had the highest rate of incarceration worldwide, at 639 prisoners per 100,000 residents as of May 2021. Within in the United States, Texas had the highest number of prisoners under federal or state jurisdiction, however, it was California that spent the most on corrections.