A new report shows that for the first time in the U.S. history one in 100 adults is in prison, thus ranking the nation as the No.1 incarcerator in the world.

According to the report, 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the beginning of 2008 that is one of every 99.1 adults. This number it’s more that in any other country.

This big number is the consequence of the tougher state and federal sentencing established since the mid-1980s.

One in nine black men ages 20 to 34 are in prison, while for black women the result is one in 100 with ages between 35 to 39. The figures for white women are one in 355 for the same age group.

The report was released by The Pew Center on the States on Thursday and it mentioned that the 50 states spent last year over $49 billion on corrections. This figure is up from the $11 billion spent 20 years earlier.

According to the report, the increase for prison costs was six times bigger than for the spending on higher-education.

The methodology used for the report is different from the one used by the Justice Department, which is using the total population as denominator when it calculates the incarceration rate rather than the adult population.

According to this methodology, one in 130 Americans is in jail.

Susan Urahn, the Pew Center's managing director, said: "We aren't really getting the return in public safety from this level of incarceration," the Associated Press reports.

“We're seeing more and more states being creative because of tight budgets. They want to be tough on crime. They want to be a law-and-order state. But they also want to save money, and they want to be effective," she added.

The report said that last year the inmate population increased in 36 states and the federal prison system.

Kentucky recorded the largest percentage increase, 12%. Here Gov. Steve Beshear noted that the crime rate increased in the past 30 years about 3 percent, and the state's inmate population increased by 600 %.

A prisoner costs $23,876 annually with Rhode Island spending $44,860 and Louisiana $13,009.

According to the report, California spent last year $8.8 billion on corrections and Texas spent $3.3 billion.

States spend an average of 6.8 % of the general fund on correction. The highest spending rate, at 10.9 percent has Oregon and the lowest, Alabama with 2.6 percent.

The report said that Vermont, Michigan, Oregon and Connecticut spend more on corrections than on higher education.

At January 1 there were 1,596,127 people in state and federal prisons and 723,131 in local jails.