Imprisonment worldwide
This fact is outdated and conflates two measures. In the 14th edition of the World Prison Population List (data collected up to 5 April 2024), the United States had the largest known national prison population, at about 1.81 million. That is roughly 16% of the report’s 11.5 million global total, not one quarter. China ranked second at about 1.69 million; Russia was not second.
Synthetic conceptual illustration, not a photograph of a facility.
“Largest percentage of people in prison” can mean a country’s share of the global total or its incarceration rate per population. Those are different measures; the United States does not lead the world by rate. Comparisons are also limited by differences in national definitions and reference dates.
