Number of prisoners fell 4.14% to 3,960 persons in Botswana in 2015, according to the United Nations.
Historically, number of prisoners in Botswana reached an all time high of 10,911 persons in 2004 and an all time low of 3,826 persons in 2013.
Botswana has been ranked 75th within the group of 105 countries we follow in terms of number of prisoners, 7 places below the position seen 10 years ago.
| Number of Prisoners | Unit | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| Angola | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 16,183 | ... | 19,898 | ... | 21,634 | ||||
| Botswana | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 8,706 | 7,005 | 4,712 | 4,241 | 3,826 | ||||||||
| Dem. Republic of the Congo | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 22,000 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ||
| Lesotho | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 2,555 | 2,498 | ... | 2,564 | ... | ... | ||||
| Mozambique | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 35,235 | 15,249 | 16,304 | ... | 15,663 | |||||||
| Namibia | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 4,251 | ... | ... | 4,010 | ... | |||
| South Africa | persons | ... | 163,312 | 159,265 | 158,165 | 156,370 | ... | |||||||||||||||
| Swaziland | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 2,713 | ... | 3,764 | 3,411 | 3,280 | |||||||
| Tanzania | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 40,111 | 39,000 | 38,353 | 33,338 | 36,552 | |||||||
| Zambia | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 15,544 | 16,666 | ... | 17,000 | 17,021 | |||||
| Zimbabwe | persons | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 13,361 | ... | 16,900 | 16,902 |
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