Americas · South America
Brazil
Third-largest prison population globally. Severe overcrowding across most states; the National Council of Justice (CNJ) maintains a public monitoring database.
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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%
Figures from official sources · verified 20 May 2026 · methodology
Conditions risk — across 3539 facilities
Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk
Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.
How Brazil compares
vs Americas (9) & global averagesThe 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 yearSource: World Prison Brief / unodc / infopen-bd
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 3,539 →3,539 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.
10º Batalhão De Infantaria Leve De Montanha
Brazil · RUA GENERAL CARNEIRO S/N, BAIRRO FÁBRICA,
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
10º Batalhão Logístico
Brazil · RUA GENERAL VITORINO, S/Nº
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
10º Cia
Brazil · PE- 180 KM 5 S/N DISTRITO INDUSTRIAL
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
10º Distrito Policial De São Paulo/Sp
Brazil · AV. TALMA DE OLIVEIRA, 1 - TATUAPÉ
Type
police-lockup
Capacity
—
Held
—
10º Distrito Policial De Sp/Sp
Brazil · AV. TALMA DE OLIVEIRA, 1 - TATUAPÉ
Type
police-lockup
Capacity
—
Held
—
10º Grupo De Artilharia De Campanha De Selva
Brazil · AVENIDA MARQUES DE POMBAL, S/N, SET MIL MAL RONDON 13 DE SETEMBRO
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
10° Regimento De Cavalaria Mecanizado
Brazil · RUA ALCEBÍADES BOBADINHA DA CUNHA, S/N
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
11ª Bateria De Artilharia Antiaérea Autopropulsada
Brazil · RUA MAL. DEODORO DA FONSECA, 412, BAIRRO VILA PARAÍSO
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
11ª Brigada De Infantaria Leve
Brazil · AV. SOLDADO PASSARINHO, Nº 1601, JARDIM CHAPADÃO
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
11ª Companhia De Comunicações Mecanizada
Brazil · RUA MARECHAL RONDON 256
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
11º Batalhão De Infantaria Leve De Montanha
Brazil · LADEIRA TENENTE VILAS BÔAS, 316, CENTRO
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
11º Pelotão De Polícia Do Exército
Brazil · AV. SOLDADO PASSARINHO, JARDIM CHAPADÃO
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
11º Regimento De Cavalaria Mecanizado
Brazil · PRAÇA DUQUE DE CAXIAS, S/N, CENTRO
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
12ª Brigada De Infantaria Leve Aeromóvel
Brazil · RUA MARQUES DE HERVAL, Nº 109, CENTRO
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
12ª Companhia De Comunicação Leve Aeromóvel
Brazil · AV. MARECHAL CASTELO BRANCO, VILA PARAÍSO
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
12ª Companhia De Comunicações Mecanizada
Brazil · R. MAURICIO CARDOSO, 3619
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
12ª Região Militar
Brazil · AV. CORONEL TEIXEIRA, Nº 6155, PONTA NEGRA
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
12° Batalhão De Engenharia De Combate Blindado
Brazil · RUA VISCONDE DE TAMANDARÉ, 1000
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
12º Batalhão De Infantaria Leve De Montanha
Brazil · RUA TENENTE BRITO MELO S/N, BAIRRO BARRO PRETO
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
12º Batalhão De Suprimento
Brazil · RUA MARECHAL BITTENCOURT, N.º 55, SANTO ANTÔNIO
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
12º Grupo De Artilharia Antiaérea De Silva
Brazil · AV. CORONEL TEIXEIRA, Nº 2061, PONTA NEGRA
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
12º Grupo De Artilharia De Campanha
Brazil · RODOVIA ANHANGUERA, KM 53, VILA MILITAR
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
12º Regimento De Cavalaria Mecanizado
Brazil · R. DUQUE DE CAXIAS, S/N
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
13ª Companhia De Comunicações Mecanizada
Brazil · R. DUQUE DE CAXIAS, 926
Type
jail
Capacity
—
Held
—
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.
- Primary reference
- World Prison Brief (ICPS, Birkbeck) — Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research
- Conselho Nacional de Justiça â Banco Nacional de Monitoramento de Prisões — Brazil National Council of Justice
- See /data-sources for our methodology.
- ISO 3166-1 alpha-3
- BRA
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). Brazil — prison statistics. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/countries/brazil
"Brazil — prison statistics." World Prisons. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/countries/brazil.
@misc{worldprisons-brazil,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Brazil — prison statistics},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/countries/brazil},
urldate = {2026-10-15}
}