Some 11.5 million people are held in penal institutions throughout the world, according to the latest edition of the World Prison Population List (WPPL), researched and compiled by Helen Fair and Roy Walmsley and published on 1 December 2021 by the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR), at Birkbeck, University of London. The List can be downloaded here.According to published prison population numbers, the total worldwide prison population stands at 10.77 million. However, the total may well be in excess of 11.5 million if numbers estimated to be held in detention centres in China and in prisons camps in North Korea are included. There are more than 2 million prisoners in the United States of America. China holds almost 1.7 million prisoners (plus an unknown number in pre-trial detention and other forms of detention). Brazil has over 800,000 prisoners, India almost 480,000, and the Russian Federation over 470,000. There are over 300,000 in Thailand, over 290,000 in Turkey...
