Prisoner of War - Numbers of POWs

Numbers of POWs

This is a list of nations with the highest number of POWs since the start of World War II, listed in descending order. These are also the highest numbers in any war since the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War entered into force on 19 June 1931. The USSR had not signed the Geneva convention.

Armies Number of POWs held in captivity Name of conflict
Soviet Union 4–5.7 million taken by Germany (2.7–3.3 million died in German POW camps) World War II (Total)
Nazi Germany
  • 3,127,380 taken by USSR (474,967 died in captivity) (according to an other source 1,094,250 died in captivity (35.8%))
  • unknown number in Yugoslavia, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark (the death rate for German prisoners of war was highest in Yugoslavia with over 50%)
  • 1.3 million unknown
 World War II
France 1,800,000 taken by Germany World War II
Poland 675,000 (420,000 taken by Germany; 240,000 taken by the Soviets in 1939; 15,000 taken by Germany in Warsaw in 1944) Invasion of Poland, and Warsaw Uprising
United Kingdom ~200,000 (135,000 taken in Europe, does not include Pacific or Commonwealth figures) World War II
United States ~130,000 (95,532 taken by Germany) World War II
Pakistan 90,368 taken by India. Later released by India in accordance with the Simla Agreement. Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Iraq ~175,000 taken by Coalition of the Gulf War Gulf War

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