Violence and Incarceration

Chapter 62 Violence and Incarceration

The US has the highest incarceration rate in the World. In fact, with only 5% of the world’s population we incarcerate almost 25% of the world’s total inmates! There is a direct relationship between violent crimes (refer to the prior post) and the rate of incarceration. The average annual cost of inmate incarceration is almost $40,000. As taxpayers, we should be outraged. The US has an incarceration rate (at almost 700 per 100,000) that is 5 times higher than the following countries:

Country (or dependent territory, subnational area, etc.) Incarceration rate (Prisoners per 100,000 population)
Central African Republic 16
Comoros 19
Faroe Islands (Denmark) 23
Republic of Guinea 26
Congo (Brazzaville) 27
Liechtenstein 27
Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) 29
India 33
Mali 33
Nigeria 35
Oman 36
Chad 39
Burkina Faso 41
Bangladesh 43
Pakistan 43
Mauritania 44
Niger 44
Iceland 45
Solomon Islands 46
Japan 47
Ghana 49
Liberia 49
Sudan 50
Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor) 50
South Sudan 52
Andorra 53
Qatar 53
Sweden 53
Yemen 53
Finland 55
Sierra Leone 55
Cote d’Ivoire 56
Mozambique 57
Gambia 58
Syria 60
Denmark 61
Nepal 62
Senegal 62
Togo 62
Equatorial Guinea 63
Papua New Guinea 63
Tanzania 64
Marshall Islands 66
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Republika Srpska 67
Djibouti 67
Indonesia 69
Netherlands 69
Malawi 70
Norway 70
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Federation 73
Slovenia 73
Afghanistan 74
Monaco 74
Benin 77
Burundi 77
Germany 78
United Kingdom: Northern Ireland 78. See notes below
Ireland, Republic of 79
Cyprus (Republic of) 80
Croatia 81
Madagascar 84
Switzerland 84
Sao Tome e Principe 87
Vanuatu 87
Sri Lanka 88
Italy 89
Greece 91
Isle of Man (United Kingdom) 92
Lesotho 92
Angola 96
Austria 97
Belgium 98
Libya 99
Kosovo/Kosova 100
Mayotte (France) 100
Haiti 102
France 103
Republic of (South) Korea 107
Cook Islands (New Zealand) 109
Tuvalu 110
Kuwait 112
Myanmar (formerly Burma) 113
Cameroon 114
Canada 114
Hong Kong (China) 115
Cambodia 116
Egypt 116
China 118 or unknown. See notes below.
Laos 119
Luxembourg 120
Reunion (France) 120
Uganda 120
Kenya 121
Tajikistan 121
Bolivia 122
Guatemala 122
Iraq 123
Bulgaria 125
Zambia 125
Guernsey (United Kingdom) 127
Micronesia, Federated States of 127
Ethiopia 128
Lebanon 128
Armenia 130
Kiribati 130
Malta 131
Spain 131
Brunei Darussalam 134
Portugal 137