Prisoners of the world

In this post, I touch on a complex and touchy issue of the human society. We look at the prisoners’ population around the world for selected countries, while casting a wide net of diversity. With the data and visualizations presented, we should be able to answer: Which countries have the highest number of prisoners? Which country has the highest prisoner density by population? What are the costs of incarcerations? What metrics stand out? Finally, I conclude with a short analysis and summary of the observations.

The data collected are the latest numbers available as of Jan 2025. Various data sources were leveraged including: Bureau of Justice Statistics, worldometers.info, usafacts.org, prisoninside.com. All visualizations are property of FlyingSalmon.net and cannot be reused or modified without permission. You may freely share this post as a link.

Total Number of Prisoners and Populations

The blue dotted line shows us the population of each country (the right y-axis is for population), and the bars show the number of prisoners for each selected country. We can instantly see the number of prisoners in China and USA are incredibly high, while the Sweden, Singapore, and Norway have the fewest number of prisoners. India, despite now being the most populous country has relatively small number of prisoners.

However, this doesn’t give us the whole picture as the population in this list of countries vary greatly. Singapore and Norway only have about 6 Million people each, whereas India has 1.45+ Billion, USA has 340+ Million people! We need to take a look at the prisoner density based on a common scale. Say, we want to know how many prisoners are there in each of these countries per 100,000 residents. The following chart shows us that.

Now, we get a clearer picture of how many incarcerated people exist in each country. We can see that there are 510 prisoners for every 100,000 residents in the USA on average. USA, Turkey, and Russia have the highest density of incarcerated people. On the other spectrum, we see a huge decline in the neighboring Canada, and even more dramatic decline in Norway, India, and Sweden.

This brings us to the cost of keeping a prisoner. Per year in the United States on average, it costs $45,000 per prisoner. This includes expenses such as food, housing, healthcare, correctional officers, and facility maintenance. Violent offenders come at an especially high expense to house securely and humanely relative to low security prisoners. For example, the “Unabomber” terrorist prisoner’s cost of incarceration so far is estimated to be $23,000,000!

Observation & Analysis

We have to wonder: why is it that the land of the “free” has the highest ratio of prisoners costing at least $80 Billion annually on incarceration? To answer this, we have to look at multiple factors.

High Incarceration Rates:

1. Strict sentencing laws, including mandatory minimum sentences and three-strikes laws, which have led to longer prison terms and overcrowded prisons.
2. Harsh sentencing laws such as the “War on Drugs” and other tough-on-crime policies from the 1980s and 1990s have resulted in a significant increase in the prison population. Many non-violent offenders, particularly those convicted of drug-related crimes, receive long sentences.

High Cost:

1. Personnel costs make up a large portion of prison budgets. Correctional officers, healthcare workers, and administrative staff all require salaries and benefits, which can be quite high.
2. Healthcare Costs: Inmates have a constitutional right to healthcare, which adds to the overall cost of incarceration. Providing medical care for a large prison population can be expensive.
3. Infrastructure and Maintenance: Maintaining and operating prison facilities is costly. This includes everything from building maintenance to utilities and security systems.
4. Rehabilitation and Education Programs: While some funds are allocated to rehabilitation and education programs, the focus has often been on punishment rather than rehabilitation, which can be more cost-effective in the long run.
5. Political and Social Factors: There’s a strong political and social emphasis on being tough on crime, which influences policy decisions and public opinion. This can make it difficult to implement reforms that might reduce incarceration rates and costs.

All these factors contribute to the high cost of incarceration in the U.S., which amounts to over $80 billion annually. It’s a multifaceted issue that requires comprehensive policy changes to address effectively.

We then have to ask: Why is it that virtually all civilized countries around the world are enforcing strict drug, gun, and crime laws and their number of criminals per population is far less? Is there a culture of violence and crime in the USA?

Here are some of the factors that contribute to this phenomenon:

1. Gun Violence: The U.S. has a high rate of gun ownership and gun violence compared to many other countries. This contributes to a higher crime rate and, consequently, more incarcerations.
2. Socioeconomic Disparities: Inequality and lack of access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities can lead to higher crime rates.
3. Cultural Factors: There is a deeply ingrained culture of individualism and self-reliance in the U.S., which can sometimes manifest in violent ways.
   Additionally, the glorification of violence in media and entertainment can contribute to desensitization and normalization of violent behavior.
4. Historical Context: The legacy of systemic racism and discrimination has also played a role in perpetuating cycles of poverty and crime, particularly in marginalized communities.
5. Mental Health and Substance Abuse: The U.S. has significant issues with mental health and substance abuse, which are often linked to criminal behavior.

Additionally, many countries with lower incarceration rates focus on rehabilitation, restorative justice, and social support systems to address the root causes of crime. By investing in education, healthcare, and social services, they can prevent crime more effectively and reduce the need for incarceration.

While we may not have a definitive solution yet, it is at least worth discussing and trying creative and more constructive approaches targeted at not just punishing criminals but reducing the root causes of citizens (or residents including immigrants of legal and illegal statuses) resorting to crimes and destructive behaviors that ultimately causes everyone to pay dearly.

I hope this was informative and though-provoking for you. Explore this site for more and visit again often for more societal and technical topics.