Brazil Holds one of the Highest Imprisonment Rates in the World

By Xiu Ying, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil is one of the countries in the world with the highest arrest rate. A survey by the G1 shows that the country currently holds 704,395 prisoners – the equivalent to 335 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants.

The World Prison Brief ranks the country 26th on a list of 221 other countries and territories. If only the gross number were taken into account, the country would rank 3rd.

World Prison Brief’s database is built by the University of London’s Institute for Criminal Policy Research and holds the most up-to-date data from each location.

Despite the national average, there are different rates among Brazilian states.

While Bahia holds the lowest rate in the country (with 105 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants) – similar to countries like Italy, Romania, and France – Acre holds a rate of 897 prisoners per 100,000 – the highest of any country in the list. The United States, ranking first, hold an estimated 655 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants.

The percentage of prisoners under pre-trial detention in Brazil – 35.9 percent – is also underlined in the data. Only 3 of the 25 countries with the highest rates of imprisonment in the world hold a higher rate. All are territories rather than countries: The Virgin Islands, Guam and Anguilla.