Palau

Total prison population:
66
Country
Palau
Ministry responsible
Ministry of Justice
Prison administration
Division of Corrections
Contact address

P.O. Box 1365, Koror, Palau 96940.
Palau

Telephone
Head of prison administration
Julio Ometei Ringang, Chief, Division of Corrections

Prison population data

Prison population total (including pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners) 66
at 31.12.2023 (Palau Statistical Yearbook)
Prison population rate (per 100,000 of national population) 367
based on an estimated national population of 18,000 at end of December 2023 (from United Nations figures)
Pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners (percentage of prison population) 4.1%
(30.4.2005)
Female prisoners (percentage of prison population) 4.5%
(31.12.2023)
Juveniles / minors / young prisoners incl. definition (percentage of prison population) 1.5%
(31.12.2023 - under 18)
Foreign prisoners (percentage of prison population) 6.5%
(30.4.2005)
Number of establishments / institutions 1
(2023 - Koror jail)
Official capacity of prison system 58
(September 2021)
Occupancy level (based on official capacity) 132.8%
(September 2021)

Prison population trend

Year Prison population total Prison population rate
70 368
101 505
97 485
111 555
132 695
92 511
103 572
72 400
87 483
94 522

Prison population total

Prison population rate

Female prison population: trend

The table below gives an indication of the trend in the female prison population. The final row shows the latest figures available.

It consists of the number of female prisoners in the prison population on a single date in the year (or the annual average) and the percentage of the total prison population that female prisoners constituted on that day.  

The final column shows the female prison population rate per 100,000 of the national population. 

                                                   PALAU

Year

Number of
female
prisoners

Percentage
of total
prison population

Female prison
population rate
(per 100,000 of
national population)

2003
2005
2010
2015

7
8
5
3

6.9%
8.6%
5.7%
4.2%

35.0
40.0
25.0
14.3

2023

3

4.5%

16.7

The number of female prisoners fluctuates and so the above figures give an indication of the trend but the picture is inevitably incomplete.

The female prison population rate is calculated on the basis of the national population total. All national population figures are inevitably estimates but the estimates used in the World Prison Brief are based on official national figures, United Nations figures or figures from other recognised international authorities.

(If the rate were calculated on the basis of the number of females in the national population it would of course be approximately double the figure in the final column.)

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