Which Countries Are Members of Interpol
Interpol has 196 member countries, which is more than the membership of the United Nations. Membership means a country operates a National Central Bureau connected to the Organization’s channels. It does not mean the country is obliged to act on every alert that reaches it, and it creates no duty to extradite anyone.
The distinction matters in practice more than the number does. People assume that because a country is a member, an alert circulated through the Organization will be enforced there automatically. It will not: each member decides under its own law whether to detain, and several apply a standing policy of reviewing alerts for political motivation before acting at all.
Membership of Interpol and the existence of an extradition treaty are unrelated. Two states can both be members and still have no basis on which either could surrender a person to the other.
What membership actually involves
- Members
- 196 countries, each operating a National Central Bureau.
- What it gives
- Access to the Organization’s communication channels and databases.
- What it does not give
- Any power of arrest. The Organization has no officers of its own in any member state.
- Obligation to act
- None. Acting on an alert is a decision for the member country under its own law.
- Refusal
- A member can decline to act, and some do so as a matter of policy.
The instrument that asks for arrest
Only one of the Organization’s instruments asks member countries to locate and provisionally arrest a person, and it is the one almost every question is really about — the instrument that asks for arrest.
Where members do and do not surrender people
That is a separate question again, governed by bilateral treaties rather than by membership — countries without extradition treaties.
If an alert concerns you in one of these countries
Which member country holds the data, and which one you are standing in, change what is done first. Our Interpol case team.
Request a free case assessmentFrequently asked
How many countries are in Interpol?
196. The membership is larger than that of the United Nations, because it includes territories that are not UN member states.
Is every member obliged to act on an alert?
No. Members decide under their own law, and several review alerts for political motivation before acting.
What languages are Interpol notices issued in?
The Organization works in four official languages, and a notice is normally circulated in more than one of them.