China is considered the undisputed leader in CCTV surveillance with four times more CCTV cameras than the USA. China has around 200 million CCTV cameras, followed by the USA's 50 million and Germany's 5.2 million. The United Kingdom closes in at the fourth position with 6 million CCTV cameras.
In a world where surveillance is ever increasing, where are the most CCTV cameras? By the end of 2021, an estimated one billion surveillance cameras were in operation globally; 54 per cent of them are located in China.
In 2022, China topped the list of surveilled countries worldwide.
China leads the world in CCTV surveillance
Estimates vary on the number of CCTV cameras in China, but, as we've already explored, IHS Markit estimates that 626 million cameras are located in China, which equates to a total of 439.07 per 1,000 people.
The number of CCTV cameras in Australia has doubled in the past decade to about 1 million, with about 300,000 of those in NSW. Over the next four years, the state government plans to increase the number of CCTVs in Parramatta, Liverpool and Camden by 1000.
London, England, has the most CCTV cameras per km2 outside of Asia: 399.27/km2. New York has the highest density of CCTV cameras installed in the US: 25.97/km2. Beijing in China has the most cameras (1.15M) but is ranked #10 for density (277.51/km2).
A key component of smart cities includes the installation of public security cameras in order to more effectively deter crime and anti-social behaviour, however critics have stated the projects are also used as a form of social control in order to target dissidents and crackdown on any potential unrest.
The Chinese city of Taiyuan, located in the Shanxi province roughly 300 miles Southwest of Beijing, tops the list with 117 public CCTV cameras per 1,000 inhabitants. The highest-ranked non-Chinese city is London, also notorious for its strict surveillance of public spaces, with 73 cameras per 1,000 people in rank 3.
The country has over 700 million surveillance cameras, which means there is one lens for every two citizens. As per Worldometer, China's population as on 30 March, 2023, is over 1.45 billion (1,454,507,737).
Of these eight, China, Malaysia and Russia scored lowest, followed jointly by Singapore and the United Kingdom, then jointly by Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. The best ranking was given to Greece, which was judged to have 'adequate safeguards against abuse'.
Serious criminals and petty thieves know that and go to London to take their share. If there were not as many surveillance cameras about, London would become the criminal capital of the world. At the moment it is not. Because the public perception is they cut crime.
The country with the strictest data privacy laws related to the internet is Iceland. Many people have referred to Iceland as Switzerland for data. It has incredibly strict privacy laws, and these laws were passed in 2000.
London is known for being one of the world's most surveilled cities, with 73 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras per 1,000 people. Only Taiyuan in Shanxi Province (northern China) and Wuxi in Jiangsu Province (eastern China) have more cameras per capita, according to security researcher Comparitech.
Japan is not the world's only “surveillance society,” but security cameras already said to number in the millions are proliferating as the Tokyo Olympics loom, making it safest to assume that whoever you are, wherever you may be, whatever you're doing, you're being watched, by something if not somebody.
China is home to nine out of the top 10 most surveilled cities and over half (54%) of the cameras in use globally. Taiyuan, the largest city in China's Shanxi province, takes the top spot with 465,255 cameras covering nearly 3.9 million people – equal to one camera for every eight residents.
From food, culture and history to adventure and natural beauty, London has it all. The city has long been featured in travel and tourism publications, but most recently, it topped the New York Times list of 52 Places to Go in 2023. A low pound is attracting international tourists to London.
According to recent research, China, USA, and Germany are the world leaders in terms of adopting CCTV technology. Speaking about Europe, the top ten surveilled cities are the following: London is the leader of surveillance in Europe. It has 68.4 cameras per 1,000 people.
There is no law or regulations against street photography in China. It's a lucky thing that most Chinese don't lose their temper at a camera. Generally, people are curious about foreigners and show great willingness to interact with you, which makes it easy to shoot, though they still change their composure.
Experts fear sales of the technology also export authoritarian ideas about biometric surveillance. The second largest exporter is the US.
In November 2021, China's Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) came into effect. The law is designed to prevent companies — and others who gather data on individual people — from misusing their customers' personal information. It is akin to the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The best-known production countries for film cameras include Japan, Germany and the United States. But analogue cameras were also manufactured in countries such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Brazil and the GDR and Soviet Union. Japan has a long tradition of manufacturing high-quality film cameras.
On the list of the world's most-watched countries ranked by the number of CCTV cameras, the UK comes in at number four, after China, USA, and Germany.
Of the cameras in the CCTV network, Comparitech claims that some 12,800 are “available” to the Atlanta Police Department for monitoring, which seems like a lot. All the stats together make Atlanta the most surveilled city in America, according to Comparitech's 2021 study.