Prison Population: We’re Number 1

As of October 2021, the World Prison Population List estimated that approximately 10.35 million persons were incarcerated worldwide; by far the greatest number, 2.3 million, were imprisoned in the United States. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, nearly every state in America has a higher incarceration rate than any other country in the entire world. Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in America, at 1,094 persons per 100,000 citizens; it is followed closely by Mississippi with 1,031.

Source: Emily Widra and Tiana Herring, “States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2021,” Prison Policy Initiative, September 2021, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2021.html