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World Female Imprisonment List (2nd Ed), ICPS University of Essex, 2012

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World Female Imprisonment List
(second edition)
(Women and girls in penal institutions, including pre-trial detainees/remand prisoners)

Roy Walmsley
This second edition of the World Female
Imprisonment List shows the number of women
and girls held in penal institutions, as pre-trial
detainees (remand prisoners) or having been
convicted and sentenced, in 212 prison systems
in independent countries and dependent
territories. It also shows the percentage of
women and girls within each national prison
population. The information is the latest
available on the situation up to the beginning of
2012. In addition this second edition includes,
where available, information about trends in the
female prison population since 2000.
The International Centre for Prison Studies
(ICPS) published in July 2011 the ninth edition
of the World Prison Population List. The
World Female Imprisonment List is a similar
publication focusing specifically on female
imprisonment. Both lists complement the
information which the ICPS already publishes
and updates monthly in the World Prison Brief
section of its website (www.prisonstudies.org).
The World Female Imprisonment List is
compiled, like the World Prison Population
List, from a variety of sources. In almost all
cases the original source is the national prison
administration of the country concerned, or
else the Ministry responsible for the prison
administration. Most of the figures are recent
and efforts are being made to update them
and to obtain information on the number of
female prisoners in the independent countries
and dependent territories for which figures are
not currently available; ICPS will welcome the
assistance of readers of the List in enhancing
its recency and comprehensiveness. Care has
been taken to ensure that the List is as accurate
as possible but ICPS cannot guarantee the
reliability of every figure and readers are also
invited to draw attention to any errors they
notice and, if possible, to supply corrections.
It is hoped that this edition of the World Female
Imprisonment List will be found useful by
policy makers, academic criminologists, nongovernmental organisations, other criminal
justice experts and everyone who is interested
in the extent of female imprisonment.

Key points
CC 	More than 625,000 women and girls are held in
penal institutions throughout the world, either as
pre-trial detainees (remand prisoners) or having
been convicted and sentenced.
CC 	Nearly a third of these are in the United States
of America (201,200). The next three countries
in terms of numbers are China (with 84,600
plus women and girls in pre-trial detention
or ‘administrative detention’), the Russian
Federation (59,200), Brazil (35,596) and Thailand
(29,175). The only other countries with more
than 7,000 female prisoners are India (15,406),
Vietnam (12,591 plus women and girls in pre-trial
detention), Mexico (10,072), Ukraine (9,697) and
Philippines (7,726).
CC The female prison population is growing in all
five continents. The total in the 187 countries
whose figures were shown in the first edition of
this List (2006) has increased by more than 16%,
with the largest increase being in the Americas
(up 23%) and the smallest increase in European
countries (up 6%).
CC 	In about 80% of prison systems female
prisoners constitute between 2 and 9% of the
total prison population. The highest percentage
levels are in Maldives (21.6%), Hong Kong-China
(20%), Bahrain (18.5%), Andorra (16.4% - 10 out
of a total of 61 prisoners), Macau-China (14.8%),
Qatar (14.7%) and Thailand (14.6%).
CC 	There are continental variations in the prevalence
of women and girls within the total prison
population. The median level is 4.45% but in
African countries female prisoners constitute a
much smaller percentage of the total (the median
is 3.1%) than in Asia where the median level is
almost twice as high (5.95%). The median levels
in the Americas, Europe and Oceania are 5.15%,
4.9% and 3.9% respectively.
CC The prevalence of women and girls within the
total prison population has increased in recent
years, especially in Asia and Europe.

1

World Female Imprisonment List (second edition)
AFRICA
	
	
	
	

Female	
Percentage	
prison	
of total	
population	prison
total	
population	

Trend information
(where available)
Date	

Year	 Total	%age	

Year	

Total	 %age

Northern Africa
Algeria	
Egypt	
Libya	
Morocco	
Sudan	

984	1.8%	
31.12.08	
2,386	3.7%	
31.12.06	
345	2.6%	
8.4.10	
1,886	3.2%	
31.12.08	
c· 200	
c· 1.7%	
3.03

2000	
2002	
2004	
2002	

626	1.8%	
2,213*	4.3%*	
387	3.3%	
1,776	3.3%	

2006	
2005	
2007	
2005	

607	1.1%
2,453	3.6%
347	2.7%
1,227	2.4%

210	3.5%	1.08	
112	2.1%	 .10	
38	5.0%	
12.99
236	2.3%	
8.3.02
6	1.2%	6.99
254	1.9%	
5.10.09	
133	4.8%	
12.08	
31	2.0%	 .10	
80	2.0%	2.02
62	3.6%	 .10	
224	3.2%	
31.12.10	
908	1.9%	
31.7.11	
256	3.7%	 .08	
79	3.5%	
31.10.10	
59*	3.4%*	
31.12.09	

2000	
2001	

c· 140	 c· 3.6%	
25	1.0%	

2006	
2007	

220	3.8%
74	1.8%

2000	
2002	
2001	

143	1.5%	
61	2.0%	
	c· 5.0%	

2005	
2007	
2007	

257	2.1%
112	4.4%
50	4.9%

2003	
	
2000	
2000	
	
2004	

10*	2.7%*
		
709	1.9%	
183	3.7%	
		
64*	4.0%*	

2006	
2005	
2005	
2007	
2007	

183	3.2%
722	1.9%
234	3.6%
66	3.3%
39*	2.6%*

2007	

206	2.9%

2,034	3.3%	 2005/06	
1,486	4.2%	
2006	
650	3.4%	
2006	
91	1.3%	
2005	
117	5.9%	
2005	

1,994	2.8%
2,000	4.2%
573	3.3%
117	1.2%
137	5.6%

Western Africa
Benin	
Burkina Faso	
Cape Verde	
Cote d’Ivoire	
Gambia	
Ghana	
Guinea (Rep. of)	
Liberia	
Mali	
Mauritania	
Niger	
Nigeria	
Senegal	
Sierra Leone	
Togo	

Central Africa
Angola	
Cameroon	
Chad	
Congo (Rep. of)	
Dem. Rep. of Congo	
Sao Tome e Principe	

196	3.3%	
4.4.03
581	2.7%	
12.03
21*	2.5%*	
mid-02
70*	6.0%*	 .07	
130*	3.0%*	
12.6.08	
8	3.7%	 .10	

2003	
2004	
2002	

51*	4.7%*
83*	3.2%*
3	2.3%

Eastern Africa
Burundi	
Comoros	
Djibouti	
Ethiopia	
Kenya	
Madagascar	
Malawi	
Mauritius	
Mozambique	
Rwanda	
Seychelles	
Tanzania	
Uganda	
Zambia	
Zimbabwe	
Mayotte (France)	
Reunion (France)	

345	3.5%	
12.10	
2	1.5%	
31.12.10
c· 24	
c· 4.0%	
.10
3,895	3.5%	
2009/10	
2,081	4.5%	
5.6.09	
736	3.9%	6.10	
156	1.3%	
31.12.10	
138	5.9%	
30.11.09	
358	2.2%	 .09
c· 3,860	
c· 6.2%	
31.12.10	
28	6.5%	
17.11.10	
1,285	3.4%	
1.11.11	
1,278	4.2%	3.10	
c· 250	
c· 1.5%	
3.11	
c· 450	
c· 3.0%	
10.10	
2	1.1%	
1.10.07	
34	2.6%	
1.10.07	

2002	

2001/02	
2001	
2003	
2001	
2001	

216	2.5%	

2002	
2002	
2005	
2005	
	
2001	
2003	
2003	

2,925	2.6%
4	2.7%	
1,515	3.3%	
901	3.4%	
		
671	3.5%	
2	1.2%
29	2.7%

2001	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2002	

289	4.6%	
139	4.5%	
104	2.1%
3,966	2.5%	
133	3.9%	

2006	
2008	
2008	
2005	
2006	

11	7.7%
1,361	3.3%
1,060	3.6%
237	1.7%
750	4.1%

2004	
2005	

306	5.0%
78	2.7%

2005	
2005	

4,072	2.2%
104	3.9%

Southern Africa
Botswana	
Lesotho	
Namibia	
South Africa	
Swaziland	

215	4.1%	
2.9.09	
61	2.4%	 .10	
110	2.7%	
31.12.07	
3,760	2.4%	
28.2.11	
68	2.6%	
19.10.09	

	* These figures are for the main prison in the capital. Full figures are not available.
Figures are not available for the following countries:
Northern Africa: South Sudan, Tunisia	
Central Africa: Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon	

2

Western Africa: Guinea Bissau
Eastern Africa: Eritrea, Somalia

World Female Imprisonment List (second edition)
AMERICAS
	
	
	
	

Female	
Percentage	
prison	
of total	
population	prison
total	
population	

Trend information
(where available)
Date	

Year	 Total	%age	

Year	

Total	 %age

North America
Canada	
U.S.A.	
Bermuda (UK)	

1,971	5.1%	
2008/09	
c· 201,200	
8.8%	
30.6.09	
14	5.4%	
31.10.07	

2002/03	
2001	
2000	

1,626	5.0%
159,431	8.1%	
20	6.7%	

24	1.7%	
31.12.10	
942	6.9%	
31.10.11	
1,917	8.5%	
31.1.10	
743	6.7%	7.10	
411	3.5%	
12.10	
10,072	4.5%	
28.2.11	
515	7.6%	 .08	
764	6.6%	
15.6.10	

2000	
2003	
2000	
2001	
2002	
2001	
2002	
2001	

20	2.6%	
454	6.8%	
371	4.8%	
433	5.9%	
614	5.2%	
7,207	4.3%	
c· 215	 3.8%	
721	7.5%	

2005	
2006	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	

33	2.4%
615	7.4%
585	4.7%
381	5.3%
395	3.4%
10,485	5.0%
365	6.5%
761	6.6%

4	2.0%	
20.9.07	
23	1.8%	
10.02
37	4.1%	
10.10	
6	2.1%	
29.12.10	
552	2.7%	 .10	
16	3.6%	 .10	
440	8.6%	
21.6.10	
245	5.2%	
1.10.07	
3	0.9%	
7.12.11	
8	1.4%	
3.12.11	
9	2.2%	 .10	
212	5.6%	
31.12.08	
2	2.8%	
19.10.11	
25	9.0%	6.07	
11	5.2%	 .10	
38	6.6%	 .06
18	2.3%	
1.10.07	
15	2.0%	
1.10.07	
409	3.1%	
31.12.07	
7	7.4%	
mid-07
5	5.0%	7.11
16	2.7%	
1.1.11	

2003	

7	4.3%	

2005	

6	3.1%

2007	
2005	
2006	
2005	
2006	
2005	
2005	

49	4.7%
1	0.3%
470	3.4%
2	0.8%
248	6.6%
223	4.6%
5	2.4%

2006	
2006	
2007	
2005	
2005	

10	2.7%
108	2.8%
0	0%
23	10.0%
16	8.4%

9	1.3%
12	1.9%
		 2004/05	

513	3.4%

	

		

2007	

21	3.8%

2,719	4.6%	
31.12.10	
1,344	11.7%	
31.12.11	
35,596	6.9%	6.11	
4,259	8.3%	
31.12.11	
5,616	6.7%	
10.10	
1,230	8.0%	9.09	
83	3.9%	
31.10.10	
311	5.1%	7.09	
3,201	6.1%	
12.11	
30	4.9%	
17.10.09	
714	7.9%	
30.6.11	
2,399	6.4%	
7.6.10	
56	8.5%	
11.08	

2002	
2000	
2000	
2003	
2000	
2002	
2001	
	
2001	
2000	
	
2001	
2003	

2,402	5.3%	
1,393	17.1%	
10,112	4.3%	
2,277	6.0%	
3,141	6.1%	
682	8.8%	
47	3.1%	
		
2,054	7.6%	
42*	5.9%*	
		
936	5.5%	
34	5.8%	

2005	
2005	
2005	
2007	
2005	
2005	
2006	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2006	
2006	
2007	

2,172	5.0%
913	13.4%
20,264	5.6%
3,228	6.7%
4,122	6.2%
1,305	10.7%
79	4.0%
265	4.2%
2,363	7.0%
39	4.8%
358	5.4%
1,255	6.5%
54	7.4%

2005	 c·195,140	8.9%
2006	
17	5.6%

Central America
Belize	
Costa Rica	
El Salvador	
Guatemala	
Honduras	
Mexico	
Nicaragua	
Panama	

Caribbean
Antigua & Barbuda	
Bahamas	
Barbados	
Dominica	
Dominican Republic	
Grenada	
Haiti	
Jamaica	
St Kitts & Nevis	
St Lucia	
St Vincent & the Grenadines	
Trinidad & Tobago	
Anguilla (UK)	
Aruba (Neth)	
Cayman Is (UK)	
Curacao (Neth)	
Guadeloupe (Fr)	
Martinique (Fr)	
Puerto Rico (USA)	
St Maarten (Neth)	
Virgin Is. (UK)	
Virgin Is. (USA)	

2001	
	
2001	
2002	
2003	
2003	
	
2001	
2001	
	
	
	
2000	
2003	
2003	
	

39	4.7%	
		
621	4.0%	
9	3.0%	
116	3.3%	
371	7.8%	
		
11	2.4%
8	2.6%	
		
		
		
24	10.6%	

South America
Argentina	
Bolivia	
Brazil	
Chile	
Colombia	
Ecuador	
Guyana	
Paraguay	
Peru	
Suriname	
Uruguay	
Venezuela	
Fr. Guiana/Guyane (Fr)	

* These figures relate only to convicted prisoners. Full figures are not available.
Figures are not available for the following countries:
North America: Greenland (Denmark)
Caribbean: Cuba

3

World Female Imprisonment List (second edition)
ASIA
	
	
	
	

Female	
Percentage	
prison	
of total	
population	prison
total	
population	

Trend information
(where available)
Date	

Year	 Total	%age	

Year	

Total	 %age

Western Asia
Bahrain	
Iraq	
Israel	
Jordan	
Kuwait	
Lebanon	
Oman	
Qatar	
Saudi Arabia	
United Arab Emirates	
Yemen	

130	18.5%	
31.12.04
415	1.6%	
31.12.08	
497	2.3%	
31.12.08	
185	3.0%	
18.8.11	
201	4.8%	 .10
280	5.5%	 .09	
55	4.5%	 .02	
81	14.7%	
31.12.08	
1,639	5.7%	 .02	
1,249	11.2%	 .06	
170	1.6%	 .09	

	
2002	
	

		
183	1.8%	
		

2005	
2005	
2005	

215	2.5%
353	2.2%
185	2.9%

2002	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2003	
2003	

358	4.3%	
101	5.0%
67	11.8%
1,570	6.6%
486*	9.6%*
263	1.6%	

2006	

233	3.8%

2006	

184	1.9%

4,222	7.6%	
1.3.11	
298	3.0%	
1.1.12	
118	1.6%	
1.1.08	
1,351	12.3%	 .06	

	
2003	
	
2003	

		
678*	4.8%*	
		
1,507	9.7%

2005	
2006	
2006	

2,899	5.5%
700	4.4%
511	4.7%

566	3.1%	
11.10	
3,100	2.8%	
19.9.08	
38	3.8%	7.11
15,406	4.1%	
31.12.09	
c· 5,840	
3.5%	
1.1.10	
243*	21.6%*	 .04	
737	6.9%	
15.12.10	
931	1.2%	
31.12.10	
1,254	4.7%	
mid-10	

	
2003	

		
1,910	2.8%

2007	

265	2.8%

2000	
2002	
2001	
2002	
2003	
2000	

9,089	3.3%	
c· 5,790	 3.5%	
319*	16.8%*
218*	8.3%*	
1,518	1.8%	
662	3.9%	

2005	
2006	

13,986	3.9%
c· 5,130	
3.5%

2006	
2007	
2005	

360	6.5%
1,328	1.4%
906	3.8%

37	9.8%	
mid-10	
856	6.1%	
30.6.10	
6,876	5.8%	
mid-10	
421	10.5%	
mid-04
2,544	6.6%	
mid-10	
6,443	10.7%	
mid-09	
7,726	8.1%	 .10	
1,249	9.7%	
31.12.10	
29,175	14.6%	
mid-10	
4	1.8%	 .09	
12,591*	11.6%*	
mid-10	

2000	
2000	
2000	

22	6.6%	
288	5.2%	
1,807	3.4%	

2005	
2005	
2005	

37	7.5%
500	6.1%
4,656	4.7%

2000	
2001	
2001	
2000	
2000	
2003	
	

1,246	4.8%	
6,034	19.1%	
3,324	5.3%	
1,126	8.2%	
35,803	17.4%	
1	0.3%
		

2005	
2007	
2005	
2005	
2005	

2,322	6.5%
9,754	15.0%
7,076	7.8%
1,649	11.0%
28,452	17.2%

2005	

10,990*	12.4%*

84,600*	5.1%*	
mid-10	
5,305	7.1%	
mid-10	
2,375	5.2%	
31.12.10	
430	6.1%	
mid-10	
1,997	20.0%	
31.12.10	
141	14.8%	
31.7.11	
	10.3%**	
10.11

2000	
2000	
2000	
2001	
2001	
2000	

47,100*	3.3%*	
3,302	5.4%	
2,951	4.8%	
227	3.4%	
1,916	16.0%	
64	7.3%	

2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	

77,279*	4.9%*
4,839	6.1%
2,589	5.5%
308	4.4%
2,289	20.2%
82	9.2%

Central Asia
Kazakhstan	
Kyrgyzstan	
Tajikistan	
Turkmenistan	

South Central Asia
Afghanistan	
Bangladesh	
Bhutan	
India	
Iran	
Maldives	
Nepal	
Pakistan	
Sri Lanka	

South Eastern Asia
Brunei Darussalam	
Cambodia	
Indonesia	
Laos	
Malaysia	
Myanmar	
Philippines	
Singapore	
Thailand	
Timor-Leste	
Vietnam	

Eastern Asia
China	
Japan	
Korea (Rep. of)	
Mongolia	
Hong Kong (China)	
Macau (China)	
Taiwan	

* These figures relate only to convicted prisoners. Full figures are not available.
** This is the percentage of prisoners newly admitted during the month. Full figures are not available.
Figures are not available for the following countries:
Western Asia: Syria
Central Asia: Uzbekistan
Eastern Asia: Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea

4

World Female Imprisonment List (second edition)
EUROPE
	
	
	
	

Female	
Percentage	
prison	
of total	
population	prison
total	
population	

Trend information
(where available)
Date	

Year	 Total	%age	

Year	

Total	 %age

Northern Europe
Denmark	
Estonia	
Finland	
Iceland	
Ireland	
Latvia	
Lithuania	
Norway	
Sweden	
UK: England & Wales	
UK: Northern Ireland	
UK: Scotland	
Faeroes (Denmark)	
Guernsey (UK)	
Isle of Man (UK)	
Jersey (UK)	

179	4.4%	
1.4.11	
197	5.8%	
28.3.11	
228	7.1%	
1.1.11	
8	5.4%	
1.9.11	
157	3.7%	
avrge 10	
421	6.2%	
1.1.11	
421	4.6%	
1.1.11	
209	5.8%	
1.5.11	
390	5.8%	
1.10.11	
4,060	4.7%	
31.12.11	
44	2.6%	
30.12.11	
449	5.6%	
30.12.11	
0	0%	
avrge 10	
16	13.9%	
31.12.11	
5	4.8%	
31.12.11	
21	12.7%	
31.12.11	

2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
	
2001	
2000	
2001	

164	5.0%	
203	4.2%	
142	5.3%	
3	3.7%	
84	2.9%	
421	4.9%	
263	3.0%	
147	5.6%	
288	5.1%	
3,350	5.2%	
23	2.2%	
203	3.3%	
		
7	10.0%	
2	3.7%	
14	10.4%	

2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2006	
2005	
2006	

184	4.5%
212	4.8%
241	6.2%
7	5.9%
102	3.4%
411	5.7%
263	3.3%
155	5.0%
368	5.2%
4,467	5.9%
32	2.5%
332	4.9%
0	0.0%
4	3.5%
2	3.3%
16	9.1%

123	2.7%	
1.9.09	
10	16.4%	
31.12.10	
39	2.4%	
1.9.09	
17	1.6%	
31.12.11	
236	4.6%	
1.1.11	
39	5.8%	
1.9.09	
554	4.9%	
1.1.10	
2,808	4.2%	
31.12.11	
35	2.4%	
31.12.10	
63	2.6%	
1.9.09	
42	7.2%	4.10	
20	1.6%	
31.12.08	
696	5.5%	
31.12.11	
0	0.0%	
1.9.09	
324	3.2%	
1.9.09	
50	3.8%	
26.5.11	
5,376	7.6%	
30.12.11	
2	3.9%	
27.11.09	

	
2002	
2001	
2001	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
	
2000	
2002	
2002	
2000	
2002	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2001	

		
4	7.3%	
33	2.4%	
23	2.7%	
74	3.7%	
14	4.5%	
358	4.7%	
2,235	4.2%	
		
32	2.3%	
11	3.9%	
18	2.5%	
1,216	9.4%	
0	0.0%	
116	1.9%	
40	3.5%	
3,668	8.1%	
0	0.0%	

2005	
2006	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2004	
2005	
2006	
2006	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2006	

92	2.7%
1	3.3%
40	2.8%
16	1.6%
140	4.0%
18	3.4%
594	6.8%
2,843	4.8%
24	2.0%
66	3.1%
14	4.1%
17	2.0%
875	6.8%
0	0.0%
231	3.0%
48	4.2%
4,744	7.7%
1	2.6%

585	6.7%	
3.6.11	
419	4.0%	
1.3.10	
2,411	3.5%	
1.7.11	
3,869	5.6%	
31.8.11	
0	0.0%	
1.9.09	
36	5.6%	
1.9.11	
2	8.7%	
1.9.09	
731	6.1%	
30.9.11	
324	5.3%	
7.9.11	

2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2002	
2000	
2003	
2000	
2000	

421	6.1%	
358	4.1%	
1,833	3.8%	
3,515	4.4%	
0	0.0%	
20	5.1%	
3	10.7%	
644	5.8%	
383	6.0%	

2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2006	
2005	
2005	

442	5.0%
391	4.2%
2,145	3.7%
4,037	5.0%
0	0.0%
32	4.6%
11	21.7%
1,117	6.3%
332	5.4%

3,460	7.6%	
31.12.06	
298	3.0%	
1.9.09	
1,538	6.6%	
30.12.11	
1,033	6.3%	
31.12.10	
418	6.2%	
1.9.09	
2,529	3.1%	
31.12.11	
1,274	4.6%	
25.5.10	
474	5.2%	
1.9.09	
9,697	6.1%	
1.1.07	

2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2000	
2002	

3,368	6.0%	
274	2.9%	
968	4.5%	
976	6.3%	
387	4.0%	
1,729	2.5%	
1,931	4.0%	
259	3.6%	
11,727	5.9%	

2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2006	

3,098	7.5%
373	3.0%
904	4.8%
960	6.2%
445	4.9%
2,359	2.8%
1,696	4.6%
399	4.3%
10,085	6.1%

Southern Europe
Albania	
Andorra	
Bosnia & Herz – Federation	
Bosnia & Herz – Rep. Srpska	
Croatia	
Cyprus	
Greece	
Italy	
Kosovo	
Macedonia	
Malta	
Montenegro	
Portugal	
San Marino	
Serbia	
Slovenia	
Spain	
Gibraltar (UK)	

Western Europe
Austria	
Belgium	
France*	
Germany	
Liechtenstein	
Luxembourg	
Monaco	
Netherlands	
Switzerland	

Central & Eastern Europe
Belarus	
Bulgaria	
Czech Republic	
Hungary	
Moldova	
Poland	
Romania	
Slovakia	
Ukraine	

* Metropolitan France, not including departments and territories in Africa, the Americas and Oceania

5

World Female Imprisonment List (second edition)
EUROPE (continued)
	
	
	
	

Female	
Percentage	
prison	
of total	
population	prison
total	
population	

Trend information
(where available)
Date	

Year	 Total	%age	

Year	

Total	 %age

Europe/Asia
159	4.0%	
1.9.09	
433	2.1%	
1.9.09	
1,215	5.0%	
31.12.11	
59,200	7.8%	
1.1.12	
4,530	3.6%	
30.11.11	

Armenia	
Azerbaijan	
Georgia	
Russian Federation	
Turkey	

2002	
2002	
2000	
2002	
2000	

123	2.2%	
274	1.5%	
219	2.6%	
53,683	5.8%	
2,591	3.6%	

2005	
2006	
2005	
2006	
2005	

82	2.8%
341	1.9%
283	2.9%
58,400	6.7%
1,802	3.3%

OCEANIA
	
	
	
	

Female	
Percentage	
prison	
of total	
population	prison
total	
population	

Australia	
Fiji	
Kiribati	
Marshall Is.	
Fed. States of Micronesia	
Nauru	
New Zealand	
Palau	
Papua New Guinea	
Samoa	
Solomon Is.	
Tonga	
Tuvalu	
Vanuatu	
American Samoa (USA)	
Cook Is. (NZ)	
French Polynesia (Fr)	
Guam (USA)	
New Caledonia (Fr)	

Trend information
(where available)
Date	

2,028	7.0%	
30.6.11	
32	2.9%	
mid-10	
4	3.9%	8.10	
0	0%	
12.10	
2*	3.8%*	
31.12.10	
1	5.0%	
31.12.10	
499	5.9%	
31.12.11	
4	5.1%	 .10	
230	5.4%	
31.12.10	
26	11.3%	 .07	
1	0.4%	
31.12.10	
7	4.4%	
31.12.10	
0	0%	
10.10	
3	1.6%	
9.3.10	
17	7.2%	
31.12.07	
0	0%	
21.11.11	
12	3.0%	
1.10.07	
21	4.1%	
18.11.09	
9	2.8%	
1.10.07	

Year	 Total	%age	
2000	
2000	
2000	
	
	
	
2000	
2003	
2001	
2000	
	
2000	
2000	
2002	
	
2000	
2003	
	
2003	

1,385	6.4%	
17	1.4%	
1	1.8%	
		
		
		
266	4.7%	
7	6.9%	
101	3.1%	
14	8.1%	
		
1	1.5%	
0	0%	
3	3.1%	
		
1	4.3%	
12	4.1%
		
4	1.3%

Year	

Total	 %age

2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	
2005	

1,734	6.8%
23	2.1%
1	1.4%
2	4.7%
0	0%
0	0%
435	6.1%
8	8.6%
201	5.0%
11	4.5%
2	0.7%
7	5.5%
0	0%
6	4.3%
20	9.0%
1	3.7%

2005	

31	6.2%

* Figures are not available for one of the four federated states (Chuuk).
Figures are not available for the following country:
Oceania: Northern Mariana Is. (USA)
Sources 	The figures in the above tables originate almost always from the national prison administrations. Some were obtained
indirectly, via the Ministry responsible for prisons, via national statistical offices, via United Nations surveys, via surveys for the
annual meetings of the Asian and Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators, via the Council of Europe Annual Penal
Statistics (SPACE) and via U.S. State Department human rights reports.
Roy Walmsley is a consultant to the United Nations and an Associate of the International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS),
University of Essex. At ICPS he is director of the World Prison Brief, a comprehensive database of information on the prison systems
of the world, which is available free of charge at www.prisonstudies.org
He also produces the World Prison Population List (9th edition, 2011) and the World Pre-trial/Remand Imprisonment List (1st edition
2008), which, like this document, complement the World Prison Brief and were both published by ICPS.

International Centre for Prison Studies
Tel: 00 44 (0) 20 7842 8505
1st Floor
The Merchant Centre
Website www.prisonstudies.org
1 New Street Square
London EC4A 3BF
Email admin@icps.essex.ac.uk

6

 

 

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