World Prisons
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Americas · South America

Brazil

High confidence
Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 31 Dec 2024
Fresh · 9d ago

Third-largest prison population globally. Severe overcrowding across most states; the National Council of Justice (CNJ) maintains a public monitoring database.

Compare BrazilWorld Prison Brief page

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

Prison population

909,067

Year: 2024

Rate per 100,000

416

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

135.6%

Above design capacity

Pre-trial / remand

23.6%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

5.9%

Foreign nationals

0.3%

Conditions risk — across 656 facilities

Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk

13/100
national average
1 moderate4 low651 unknown

How Brazil compares

vs Americas (9) & global averages
Rate per 100,000this: 416 · region: 499 · global: 214
Occupancy ratethis: 136% · region: 129% · global: 125%
Pre-trial sharethis: 24% · region: 36% · global: 32%

The vertical ticks mark the global (grey) and regional (amber) means. Bars are clipped at the high end for readability.

Prison population over time

Annual figures, latest survey year
2000: 232,755+248.7% over 20y2020: 811,707

What we know — and don't

Transparency about the boundaries of this data. Click sources where linked.

What we know

  • More than 30,000 inmates serve sentences in militia-controlled wings of major facilities.
  • The Carandiru Massacre (1992) remains Brazil's most-cited case before the Inter-American Court.

What we don't know

  • Death-in-custody figures vary substantially between state administrations.

Reform in Brazil

All reform →

Laws, programmes, and pilots changing how Brazil incarcerates — plus relevant research.

  • Audiências de Custódia (custody hearings)2015–ongoing

    pre trial detention · active

    From 2015, every person arrested in Brazil must be presented to a judge within 24 hours, who decides whether pre-trial detention is justified. Replaced a system where remand decisions were made on paper, often after months of incarceration.

Prisons in Brazil

Browse all 656 →

656 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.

'Cadeia Publica

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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35o Distrito Integrado de Policia - Delegacia

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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48a Regional de Policia

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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603

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Advanced Prison Unit of Indaial

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Anexo

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Antiga Cadeia de Campinas

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Antiga Cadeia Publica (Sacramento)

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Antiga Cadeia Publica (Salinas)

Brazil · Salinas

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Antiga Cadeia Publica de Governador Valadares

Brazil · Governador Valadares

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Antiga Prisao de Oliveira

Brazil · Oliveira

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Antigo Forum e Cadeia de Apiai

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Antigo Instituto Penal de Mariante (FECHADO)

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Antigo Presidio de Uba

Brazil · Ubá

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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APAC

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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APAC Alfenas - Associacao de Protecao e Assistencia a Condenados - Alfenas

Brazil · Alfenas

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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ARUANA

Brazil

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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Associacao de Protecao e Assistencia ao Condenado

Brazil · Paracatu

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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cadeia

Brazil · São José de Piranhas

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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Cadeia

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Cadeia

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

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Held

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Cadeia

Brazil

Type

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Capacity

—

Held

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Cadeia

Brazil · Rolândia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

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Cadeia de Castro

Brazil

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

See all 656 prisons in Brazil →

Data completeness

100%

Score based on how many fields are populated. We surface this so you know where the gaps are.

National population
218,470,0002024
Source-verified
20 May 2026
Source links
2 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.