Rio de Janeiro, June 5 (RHC-Xinhua) -- Brazil's prison population grew 74 percent in a seven-year period starting in 2005, according to a report released by the Brazilian Presidency Secretariat-General.

According to the report, Brazil had nearly 300,000 inmates in 2005 and by 2012, the figure jumped to over half a million. During the period, male prisoners increased 70 percent while female inmates surged 146 percent.

About a third of the incarcerated population were jailed in Sao Paulo, the most populous state in Brazil.

About 69 percent of the prison population were serving time in jail, and 24 percent were serving sentences in an open prison system, under which Brazilian inmates are allowed to leave the penitentiary during the day to work and return at night. The rest were serving sentences outside prisons, such as on parole or under house arrest.