20 Countries With the Most Foreign Prisoners, Ranked
Imagine a prison. What comes to mind? If the title of this article didn’t give you bias, it would likely include images of people detained there from your own country.
Many tourists traveling abroad don’t give the possibility of being incarcerated a thought. But depending on the country, you could break strict laws without knowing it. Don’t cancel your international getaway because of this, though; there are likely many more foreigners who find themselves in foreign prisons because they knowingly commit a crime than because of an innocent lack of local law knowledge.
Regardless of the reason they’re in jail, Statista gathered data to rank the countries with the most foreign prisoners. We bet the amount of beautiful vacation getaways that make this list will surprise you.
Counting Foreign Prisoner Rates

Statista ranked the following countries by foreign prisoner populations using worldwide survey data from November 2023. The percentage of foreign prisoners among all prisoners is the main figure they used to form their ranking.
According to Penal Reform International, there are 11 million people in prisons worldwide, the most ever reported, with men taking up 93% of them. Of those incarcerated, almost half a million people are incarcerated in a foreign country, which amounts to about 5% of the global prison population.
But which countries hold the most foreign prisoners worldwide?
1. Monaco

Share of foreign prisoners: 92.9%
2. United Arab Emirates

Share of foreign prisoners: 87.8%
3. Liechtenstein

Share of foreign prisoners: 83.3%
4. Luxembourg

Share of foreign prisoners: 73.7%
5. Macau

Share of foreign prisoners: 72.1%
6. Switzerland

Share of foreign prisoners: 71.0%
7. Andorra

Share of foreign prisoners: 70.6%
8. Gambia

Share of foreign prisoners: 66.7%
9. French Guiana

Share of foreign prisoners: 63.0%
10. American Samoa

Share of foreign prisoners: 62.2%
11. Greece

Share of foreign prisoners: 58.6%
12. Austria

Share of foreign prisoners: 52.2%
13. Cyprus

Share of foreign prisoners: 52.1%
14. Aruba

Share of foreign prisoners: 50.0%
15. Saudi Arabia

Share of foreign prisoners: 49.0%
16. Malta

Share of foreign prisoners: 44.0%
17. Belgium

Share of foreign prisoners: 43.4%
18. Israel

Share of foreign prisoners: 38.9%
19. Lebanon

Share of foreign prisoners: 36.0%
20. Gibraltar

Share of foreign prisoners: 33.9%
Monaco’s Foreign Prisoner Percentage

Monaco has the highest percentage of foreign prisoners while also facing a steady increase in crime. In 2023, about 800 crime incidents were reported in Monaco, a 0.9% increase from the year before.
The country has a 606-person police force with a little over 1,000 security cameras monitoring criminal activity, which is the largest in the world per capita and per area. Monaco is the second smallest independent state in the world behind the Vatican with an overall area of about 0.8 square miles.
Tourism Risks in the UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks second in terms of which countries have the most percentage of foreign prisoners, and its strict laws play a large role. One expert noted that while the UAE has done much to promote tourism, those visiting the area are still vulnerable to false allegations and probable imprisonment.
For example, a tourist was arrested in the UAE for allegedly yelling at a rental car employee, which violated the country’s strict laws. The foreigner was subject to up to two years of imprisonment.
Furthermore, before laws and regulations on alcohol were relaxed in 2020, someone visiting the UAE could be subject to blood alcohol tests. They would be taken into custody and have their passports and phones confiscated if tested positive.
Liechtenstein’s Two Faces

Liechtenstein is a country roughly 62 square miles large with a population of about 40,000 people. It has the third-highest percentage of foreign prisoners, yet due to limited jail facilities, criminals with a prison sentence of over two years are transferred to Austria.
Luckily for locals and tourists alike, the crime rate in Liechtenstein is low, hence why they likely haven’t invested in more prison facilities.
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