The US prison population, already the largest in the world, reached a new high of more than 2.1 million last year, with one in every 138 residents of the country now behind bars, according to new government statistics.
The data, made public by the US Bureau of Justice on Sunday 24 April, put the United States far ahead of countries like China and Russia, whose combined population is about five times that of America.
"The numbers are pretty consistent with what they have been in the last few years," Justice Department statistician Paige Harrison, a co-author of the report, said.
"We are seeing continued growth in prisons and jails, but at a lower rate than we had about 10 years ago."
The study shows the number of inmates across the country rose an estimated 48,452 people, or 2.3 percent, in the 12-month period ending on 30 June 2004. In other words, the system was adding to its ranks on average 932 individuals every week.
The rate of incarceration reached a record of 726 inmates per 100,000 residents -- up from 716 a year earlier.
By comparison, the current incarceration rate in Britain is 142 per 100,000 citizens, in China 118, in France 91, in Japan 58, and in Nigeria 31, according to the Justice Policy Institute, an independent research organization in Washington.
