Based on a comparison of 168 countries in 2015, USA ranked the highest in number of prisoners with 2,173,800 persons followed by China and Russia. On the other end of the scale was Monaco with 34.0 persons, Liechtenstein with 53.0 persons and Guinea Bissau with 92.0 persons.
Data for more countries are available at Number of Prisoners indicator page.
| Number of Prisoners | Unit | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| Brazil | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 491,482 | 513,954 | 534,605 | 570,318 | 606,208 | ||||||||
| China | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 1,623,394 | 1,646,593 | 1,656,773 | 1,641,931 | 1,680,000 | ... | |||||||
| Colombia | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 75,992 | 84,444 | 100,451 | 113,884 | 120,032 | ... | |||||||
| India | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 376,969 | 368,998 | 372,926 | 385,135 | 411,992 | ||||||||
| Indonesia | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 117,863 | ... | 156,446 | 160,061 | |||||||
| Iran | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 168,516 | ... | 250,000 | ... | 226,220 | ... | ||||
| Mexico | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 186,614 | 188,013 | 213,758 | 207,278 | 218,373 | ||||||||
| Philippines | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 95,390 | 100,590 | 106,623 | 110,747 | |||||
| Russia | persons | 863,899 | 818,037 | 755,648 | 701,909 | 677,287 | ... | |||||||||||||||
| South Africa | persons | ... | 163,312 | 159,265 | 158,165 | 156,370 | ... | |||||||||||||||
| Thailand | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 213,094 | 210,855 | 224,492 | 234,895 | 279,854 | |||||||
| Turkey | persons | 115,920 | 120,194 | 128,253 | 136,638 | 144,098 | ||||||||||||||||
| USA | persons | 2,297,700 | 2,279,100 | 2,252,500 | 2,231,400 | 2,231,400 | ||||||||||||||||
| Ukraine | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 147,716 | 154,027 | 154,029 | ... | 147,112 | ... | ... | ||||||
| Vietnam | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 107,668 | ... | 113,018 | 130,180 | ... |
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