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Prisoners detained as a share of official prison capacity

About this data

Prisoners detained as a share of official prison capacity
Occupancy level of prisons, based on the official capacity; values above 100% indicate that the prison population exceeds official capacity and reflects overcrowding.
Source
Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
January 21, 2026
Next expected update
January 2027
Date range
2004–2026
Unit
%

About this data

Prisoners detained as a share of official prison capacity
Occupancy level of prisons, based on the official capacity; values above 100% indicate that the prison population exceeds official capacity and reflects overcrowding.
Source
Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
January 21, 2026
Next expected update
January 2027
Date range
2004–2026
Unit
%

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research – World Prison Brief

The World Prison Brief is an online database providing free access to information on prison systems around the world. It is a unique resource, which supports evidence-based development of prison policy and practice globally.

The World Prison Brief is hosted by the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR), at Birkbeck, University of London. ICPR hosts and updates the World Prison Brief as part of its World Prison Research Programme. This programme, which involves collaboration with research partners, civil society organisations and policy makers, aims to inform and promote debate and policy reform through international comparative research projects, publications and civil society engagement.

In addition to providing access to the World Prison Brief database, this website holds other prisons publications by ICPR, including World Prison Population Lists, the handbook A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management, research project reports, blogs and expert commentary on prisons issues.

Retrieved on
January 20, 2026
Retrieved from
https://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison_population_rate?field_region_taxonomy_tid=All
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
World Prison Brief, Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research.

The World Prison Brief is an online database providing free access to information on prison systems around the world. It is a unique resource, which supports evidence-based development of prison policy and practice globally.

The World Prison Brief is hosted by the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR), at Birkbeck, University of London. ICPR hosts and updates the World Prison Brief as part of its World Prison Research Programme. This programme, which involves collaboration with research partners, civil society organisations and policy makers, aims to inform and promote debate and policy reform through international comparative research projects, publications and civil society engagement.

In addition to providing access to the World Prison Brief database, this website holds other prisons publications by ICPR, including World Prison Population Lists, the handbook A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management, research project reports, blogs and expert commentary on prisons issues.

Retrieved on
January 20, 2026
Retrieved from
https://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison_population_rate?field_region_taxonomy_tid=All
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
World Prison Brief, Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research.

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

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  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Prisoners detained as a share of official prison capacity”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260213-171235/grapher/prison-capacity.html [online resource] (archived on February 13, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (2026) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. “Prisoners detained as a share of official prison capacity” [dataset]. Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research, “World Prison Brief” [original data]. Retrieved February 24, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260213-171235/grapher/prison-capacity.html (archived on February 13, 2026).