World Prisons
All countries

Asia · South-Eastern Asia

Philippines

High confidence
Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 1 Apr 2024
Fresh · 9d ago

Among the world's most overcrowded systems. BJMP-operated city jails routinely at 4–6× capacity.

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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

171,247

Year: 2023

Rate per 100,000

149

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

362%

Severely overcrowded

Pre-trial / remand

65.2%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

9.8%

Foreign nationals

0.2%

Conditions risk — across 179 facilities

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

46/100
national average

How Philippines compares

vs Asia (14) & global averages
Rate per 100,000this: 149 · region: 165 · global: 214
Occupancy ratethis: 362% · region: 130% · global: 125%
Pre-trial sharethis: 65% · region: 31% · 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: 79,299+108.8% over 21y2021: 165,583

Prisons in Philippines

Browse all 179

179 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.

Data completeness

100%

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

National population
115,290,0002023
Source-verified
20 May 2026
Source links
2 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.

Recent reports

  • Sustained overcrowding at ~4× design capacity. Dormitories operate under tacit inmate-organised governance.

    Bureau of Corrections internal review · source