Latest Report Highlights Small Drop in World Female Imprisonments

A new report by the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR) at Birkbeck University revealed that over 733,000 women and girls are estimated to be currently held across 221 penal institutions worldwide. This total, which includes both pre-trial detainees and those convicted and sentenced, is based on the most updated data from nations and territories in 2024.

The World Female Imprisonment List highlights that the total number of women incarcerated has dropped by about 1% since the fifth edition of the report; however, this still represents a 57% increase since 2000, when the figure stood at approximately 466,000.

The sixth edition of the World Female Imprisonment List revealed that:

• Women and girls currently make up 6.7% of the global prison population. In African countries, the proportion of female prisoners is 3.5%, compared to 6.1% in Europe, 7.0% in Oceania, 7.3% in Asia, and 7.7% in the Americas.
• The United States has the highest number of female prisoners, with approximately 174,607 women incarcerated, accounting for nearly 9.7% of the total U.S. prison population.
• Other countries with significant female prison populations include China (145,000, with unknown figures for pre-trial detainees), Brazil (50,441), and Russia (39,153).
• The female prison population rate (the number of female prisoners per 100,000 of the national population) is highest in the U.S. (52) and Thailand (47).

The report also highlights alarming trends in specific regions. For instance, in Central America, countries like El Salvador have witnessed a massive increase in their female prison populations. El Salvador’s female prisoners have increased more than sevenfold since 2000, while in Brazil, female incarceration has risen fivefold.

The report also notes that figures for five countries are not available, and those for China are incomplete. The actual total of female prisoners is therefore expected to be higher than estimated.

America continues to drive arrests

The US stands out as the country with the highest number of female prisoners: just under 175,000 women and girls are imprisoned there, representing approximately 24% of the global total. While the US had seen a recent downward trend in its female prison population during the pandemic, this trend has now been reversed, with 2022 seeing an 18% increase in incarcerated women compared to 2020.

The second nation with the highest number of imprisonments is China, with an estimated 145,000 arrests (plus an unknown number of people in pre-trial detention). The third highest incarcerator is Brazil, with 50,441 women in prison. The top three nations represent just over half of worldwide female arrests.

On drug-related offences

While the report does not collect data specifically on drug-related offences, Fair highlighted how petty offences often drive women’s involvement in the criminal justice system.

“We know that most women in prison are there for non-violent offences such as shoplifting, prostitution and low level drug offences,” Fair told TalkingDrugs. “They are often unable to pay fines or afford bail or legal representation which makes them more likely to end up being imprisoned.”

Data challenges

While this latest edition of the World Female Imprisonment List uses the most up to date information available to them, some nations have not updated their prisoner data for over a decade like Gambia, Cape Verde and the Democratic Republic of Congo for example.

“Of the 226 countries for which information is held on ICPR’s World Prison Brief website, in only 78 do prison services routinely and proactively make data on the prison population available online,” Fair told TalkingDrugs. “Others make headline numbers sporadically available to the media, while a small number do not publish any data.”

In ICPR’s data collection guidance, the organisation highlights that certain countries, particularly low income countries, are unable to collect systematic data due to a lack of electronic systems and shortages in trained staff. This means that when data is produced

Women continue to represent a small but increasing fraction of the overall prison population; in some areas, they increasingly represent larger segments of prison populations.

The six-edition of the World Female Imprisonment List is an important resource to understand changing trends in global arrests. While it faces challenges in collecting data, it is a useful reminder of the importance of documenting all the groups put through the criminal justice system, and to ensure their rights and voices are protected.