Also available in: Português (Brasil)
Countries with the most lawyers per capita
Which country has the most lawyers relative to its population? This ranking orders 10 countries by density, lawyers per 100k people, using official counts from each national bar. Brazil leads, and the gap down to the bottom of the table is enormous.
Ranking by lawyers per 100k people
| # | Country | Per 100k people | People per lawyer | Total registered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 709.7 | 141 | 1,498,419 |
| 2 | Italy | 397.0 | 252 | 233,260 |
| 3 | United States | 394.9 | 253 | 1,322,649 |
| 4 | Australia | 366.0 | 273 | 97,500 |
| 5 | England and Wales | 292.2 | 342 | 177,841 |
| 6 | Canada | 275.9 | 362 | 110,619 |
| 7 | Germany | 197.1 | 507 | 166,504 |
| 8 | India | 140.9 | 710 | 2,013,081 |
| 9 | France | 111.0 | 901 | 75,681 |
| 10 | Japan | 36.1 | 2,772 | 44,916 |
Density is not the same as volume
Measured against population, Brazil has the group's highest lawyer density, 709.7 per 100k people, or one lawyer for every 141 residents. Italy and United States follow. At the opposite end, Japan has one lawyer for every 2,772 people, the most extreme case of relative scarcity. Note that the country with the most lawyers in absolute numbers does not lead here: volume and density are different things.
The comparison needs care because each country counts a slightly different profession: in some places the figure covers only one kind of professional, reference years vary, and an active registration does not mean a practicing lawyer. So the numbers are meant to size orders of magnitude, not contests to the second decimal. Click a country for its regional breakdown and the official source behind every number, or compare them all at once in the full comparative collection.
Source: each country's bars, federations and ministries (OAB, ABA, BRAK, SRA, and others), with population ratios based on 2023 estimates. Snapshot of 2026-07-10. This page publishes aggregate counts only, never individual records.
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Last updated: · Methodology and sources