Figures below mainly from The Statesman's Yearbook, various dates - give the prison population of various countries over time.  There is a siginificant tendency in most countries (excepting some smaller ones) to lock up a greater percentage of the population over time.  Why?  Are we getting more lawless, or is the State getting more scared of lawbreakers (or redefining - for some reason -  what is a lawbreaker, especially one deserving of incarceration)?  As this sample set of figures below shows, this is a trend across all sorts of countries, North and South, rich and poor, democratic or less democratic.  If this trend continues I estimate that by 2250 we'll all either be prisoners or prison guards - solves the unemployment, housing, road congestion, problems I suppose.

Hillary Shaw, Harper Adams University College, Newport, Shropshire

Argentina 43,174 (1996)
56,313 (2002)
Australia 18,160 (1996)
25,790 (2006)
Belarus 52,200 (1996)
55,156 (2001)
Belgium 6,951 (1988)
9,249 (2004)
Bolivia 5,412 (1996)
6,768 (2003)
Bosnia 769 (1998)
2,283 (2003)
Brazil 130,000 (1996)
285,000 (2003)
Brunei 285 (1998)
454 (2002)
Chad 2,521 (1996)
3,883 (2002)
Chile 36,214 (2002)
65,262 (2004)
Colombia 43,000 (1998)
54,034 (2001)
Costa Rica 5,495 (1996)
7,619 (2004)
Croatia 2,119 (1997)
2,584 (2001)
Cuba 33,000 (1997)
55,000 (2003)
Denmark 1,381 (1979)
3,515 (1988)
3,597 (1992)
3,397 (1997),
3,236 (2001),
3,641 (2003)
4,041 (2004)
France 26,795, (1960)
51,134 (1993)
57,458 (1998)
49,718 (2001)