Statistics have shown that the number of inmates in state prisons in the United States has declined for the first time in almost 40 years.

The Pew Center on the States in Washington said that state prisons throughout the country held 1,404,053 people Jan. 1, 4,777 fewer than a year before following years of annual increases.

Cash-strapped states have sought alternatives to cut prison population and thus costs, including diverting low-level offenders to other sentencing and early release of inmates who complete programs aimed at reducing recidivism, the Christian Science Monitor reported on Friday.

Adam Gelb, director of the Pew center's public safety performance project, told the online newspaper, "More and more policymakers are realizing that new technologies and strategies are more effective and less expensive than warehousing somebody in a $30,000-a-year taxpayer-funded prison cell."

Pew further said that prison populations in 26 states fell, Rhode Island the most, 9.2 percent, between 2008 and 2009. The state worked with the U. S. Justice Department and Pew to come up with ways to reduce prison spending, which averages $40,000 a year per inmate.

It has further been reported that one effort trims an inmate's sentence by up to 10 days a month for following rules, while another reduces sentences for participating in programs such as job training and anger management. Recidivism criteria help to decide parole as well. (With Inputs from Agencies)