Prison Planet

The global prison population is on the rise, with upwards of 9 million people now doing time. Countries are now locking up more of their citizens than ever before. This troubling trend has left jails severely overcrowded, costs booming, and countless prisoners waiting years for justice.

BY ROY WALMSLEY | APRIL 18, 2007

The global prison population is on the rise, with upwards of 9 million people now doing time. Countries are now locking up more of their citizens than ever before. This troubling trend has left jails severely overcrowded, costs booming, and countless prisoners waiting years for justice.



Due to a calculation error, this piece mistakenly claims that the U.S. prison population increased by 103.4 percent between 1995 and 2005. The accurate figure is 38.4 percent. FP regrets the error.

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Roy Walmsley is author of the World Prison Population List, now in its seventh edition, and director of the World Prison Brief at the International Centre for Prison Studies King's College, London.