Debtors' Prison in the West?

I've been corresponding with an analyst in a country that still jails people for unpaid general debts. The question posed to me, and which I pose to Credit Slips readers, is "can I find statistics of similar imprisonment for debt in Western countries like the US, Canada, and Europe?"

Now we're not looking for accounts of imprisonment for failure to pay specific debts like child support, or for contempt for failure to respond to a judgment debtor examination bench warrant--this is a related but different problem, which has been the subject of a great FTC report. And we're not looking for stories of indigent inmates being re-imprisoned for unpaid criminal fines and "user fees," another problem which has also been the subject of several shocking ACLU reports. And we're not looking for references to rogue judges who violate their citizens' constitutional rights to freedom from imprisonment for debt, though again, we know such problems exist in the US and elsewhere.

The question concerns only standard imprisonment for general debt. My strong sense is that no such statistics exist because no Western country does such things any longer. I hope no one can point out that I'm wrong, but if so, please do let me know in the comments.

On a related note, if anyone knows of statistics on revocation/suspension of driver's licenses (and the like) for failure to pay general debt (again, not for specific debts, like child support, parking or speeding fines), I'd love to hear about that, as well.

Thanks!

Imprisonment photo courtesy of Shutterstock