Top 10 African countries with the highest prison populations

Since around the year 2000, the global prison population has grown by 27%, which is a bit slower than the estimated 31% increase in the world’s overall population during the same time.

Notably, there is considerable variation between different regions of the world, according to the World Prison Population List, which provides details on the number of prisoners in 223 prison systems across independent countries and dependent territories.

In Africa, the prison population has gone up by 53%, but that’s less than the continent’s general population increase of 78%. A big part of this difference comes from Rwanda, where the prison numbers are still high due to those detained in connection with the 1994 genocide, even though many have been released since 2000. If we take Rwanda out of the equation, Africa’s prison population has risen by 65% since 2000.

In the Americas, the prison population has increased by 39% since 2000, but this is largely driven by trends in the United States, which has the largest prison population by far.

There are also significant differences within the same continent. For instance, in Africa, the median imprisonment rate for Western African countries is 50, while Southern African countries have a much higher median rate of 243.

According to the World Prison Population List, the numbers account for both pretrial detainees (remand prisoners) and individuals who have been convicted and sentenced. This information reflects the latest available data as of early April 2024.