Australia's global ranking in terms of its prison population rate changes depending on the data source and year, but it generally falls around the middle-to-upper portion of world rankings. Its rate is higher than many Western European countries but significantly lower than the United States.
The United States is home to the largest number of prisoners worldwide. More than 1.8 million people were incarcerated in the U.S. at the beginning of 2025.
Crime levels
Australia reported 46.01 crimes per 100,000 citizens. Australia is ranked 69th out of 164 countries when it comes to crime in general while Canada did better with only 39.03 crimes per 100,000 and ranking 80th.
Key statistics
As at 30 June 2025: there were 46,998 adult prisoners in Australia, up 6% (2,595 prisoners) from 2024. the imprisonment rate was 216 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, up from 208 prisoners in 2024.
Australian prisons are overcrowded and there are no signs of this being adequately addressed in the near future. Overcrowding has serious implications for the human rights of imprisoned people.
The worst overcrowding is found in Africa, the report states, with occupancy levels of over 600 per cent in the Republic of Congo's two main prisons.
Vegemite is banned in some Australian prisons, particularly Victoria's, because inmates used its yeast to brew alcohol and smear it on drugs to confuse narcotics dogs, despite the yeast being inactive. While prisoners argue it's a cultural right and essential for wellbeing, officials cite security concerns over potential homebrew and drug interference, leading to bans under "Contraband" policies, notes The New York Times.
Countries With the Most (and Least) Incarcerated People
Decades of prison expansion have created an immense burden on public spending but have not reduced recidivism rates. In Australia, 42% of people released from prison will return within two years. Three in five adult prisoners have been incarcerated at least once before.
Between 1788 and the end of transportation in 1868, around 162,000 convicts were sent to the colonies of New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land and Western Australia. An estimated one in five Australians has convict ancestry.
Homicide rate: Australia's homicide rate hovers around 0.8 per 100,000 people, compared to the U.S. rate of approximately 6 per 100,000. Property crime: Both countries experience property crime, but Australia's rates are generally lower, and violent property crimes (like armed burglary) are less common.
Violent crime and property crime
Overall, France's intentional homicide rate has slightly decreased over the past decade, with 1.14 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants recorded in 2021. However, the year 2015 registered a peak with 1.59 incidents recorded.
The World Justice Project's 2020 Rule of Law Index ranked the UK as having the 12 most effective criminal justice system in the world, although the UK scored comparatively poorly (25 worldwide, and 0.56 out of a maximum score of 1) on an indicator measuring whether the 'correctional system is effective in reducing ...
With nearly two million people behind bars at any given time, the United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world.
You are criminally responsible at age 10. This means that if you commit an offence from this age, you can be charged and, depending on the seriousness, you can get a sentence of detention. Juvenile detention in Western Australia is served at Banksia Hill Detention Centre in Canning Vale.
There are 113 custodial correctional facilities across Australia (SCGRSP 2024). At 30 June 2024, there were around 44,400 adults in custody (ABS 2024b).
According to the World Population Review, as of 2022, the ten countries with most (reported) people in prison are the United States (2,068,800); China (1,690,000), Brazil (811,707), India (478,600), Russia (471,490), Thailand (309,282), Turkey (291,198), Indonesia (266,259), Mexico (220,866), and Iran (189,000).
The United States is the world leader in incarceration—one in four of the world's prisoners is in an American prison or jail. The United States incarcerates nearly 500,000 more people than the top 36 incarcerating European countries combined.
Norway. Norway has one of the lowest reimprisonment rates within 2 years in the world at 20% in 2010, 24% in 2014, 23% in 2015, 22% in 2016, 19% in 2017, 18% in 2018 and 20% in 2024. In 2023, the recidivism in Norway was 25% after 5 years and still ranked as one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world.
Australian prisoners typically go to bed fairly early, often around 7:30 PM to 8:00 PM, as their days are highly structured with evening lockdowns, headcounts, and cell closures, though this varies slightly by facility and security level, with some allowing more flexibility, but generally, the structured day ends mid-evening.
Australians call McDonald's "Macca's," a common nickname that became so popular the company embraced it, even changing some store signs to "Macca's" and using the term in advertising and their app. This fits the Australian habit of shortening names with an "-a" or "-o" suffix, like "barbie" for barbecue.
Certain food, plant material and animal products from overseas could introduce serious pests and diseases into Australia, devastating our valuable agriculture and tourism industries, unique environment and our way of life.