Highest to Lowest

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Please use drop down menu 1 to choose the category of data you wish to view, and press 'Go' to load category page. Once the page has reloaded please choose the continent/region from drop down menu 2 and then press 'Apply'.

Data shown in the highest to lowest lists are the most recent available but not necessarily from the same date. Please click on each individual country to see the date to which the data refer. As it is not possible to obtain meaningful comparative data on numbers of children in custody in different countries, we do not include juvenile imprisonment data in the highest to lowest lists.

Ranking Title Prison Population Total Prison Population Rate Pre-trial Detainees (%) Female Prisoners (%) Foreign Prisoners (%) Occupancy Level (%)
  Peru 94502 277 36.9 5.2 4.7 230.4
  French Guiana/Guyane (France) 1001 305 27.9 8.4 63.0 162.5
  Colombia 101622 198 23.7 6.5 1.3 124.3
  Argentina 117810 254 41.7 4.1 4.9 118.5
  Ecuador 30804 167 36.2 5.5 8.1 111.8
  Chile 53200 281 37.1 7.8 3.4 91.3
  Bolivia 25291 209 66.2 6.1 3.3 287.8
  Brazil 839672 390 26.9 5.4 0.3 173.9
  Uruguay 14965 424 12.7 7.4 2.8 130.1
  Paraguay 17006 233 67.0 5.2 4.2 171.6
  Guyana 2156 271 27.0 2.8 1.5 151.0
  Suriname 1000 185 50.0 2.8 19.3 75.2
  Venezuela 67200 199 62.5 7.8 2.3 157.5