Fifty-four countries still have the death penalty on the books and in active use, according to Amnesty International’s December 2024 count. Another 113 have abolished it for all crimes, 9 keep it only for exceptional offenses like wartime treason, and 23 retain it in law but have carried out no executions in at least a decade.1Amnesty International. Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries as of December 2024 So the short answer to what countries have the death penalty is: a shrinking minority. The longer answer is that a few of those remaining countries carry out almost all of the world’s executions.
The Four Categories at a Glance
Amnesty International places every country into one of four groups based on both its laws and its practice:1Amnesty International. Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries as of December 2024
- Abolitionist for all crimes: 113 countries, including most of Europe, Canada, Australia, Mexico, and much of South America and Africa.
- Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only: 9 countries that keep the penalty for exceptional situations such as wartime military offenses. Brazil and Chile belong here.
- Abolitionist in practice: 23 countries that still authorize executions by law but have carried out none for at least ten years. Russia and South Korea are prominent examples.
- Retentionist: 54 countries where the death penalty is both authorized and used.
Added together, 145 countries have moved away from executions in law or in practice. The 54 retentionist countries include China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United States, Egypt, and others.
Where Executions Actually Happen
Having the death penalty and using it heavily are two different things. Amnesty recorded at least 1,518 executions worldwide in 2024, and roughly 91 percent took place in just three countries.2Amnesty International USA. Death Sentences and Executions 2024
Iran leads the published count with at least 972 known executions in 2024, a sharp increase over prior years, driven heavily by drug-trafficking convictions. Saudi Arabia carried out at least 345, Iraq 63. Yemen, Somalia, the United States, and Egypt (13) round out the top of the list at much lower numbers.
China almost certainly executes more people than every other country combined. The actual figure is classified as a state secret, with estimates running into the thousands each year.3Amnesty International. China’s Deadly Secret Because China publishes no data, it sits outside the 1,518 figure, and every global tally undercounts the real total. North Korea, Afghanistan, Syria, and Vietnam are also known to execute people but provide too little transparency for reliable counts.
The United States
The United States is the only Western democracy that still actively carries out executions. Capital punishment is authorized in 27 states, under the federal system, and in the military.4Death Penalty Information Center. State by State The country executed 25 people in 2024, which placed it sixth globally among countries with verifiable figures.
Use varies enormously across the 27 states. Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Missouri account for the bulk of modern executions. California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania authorize the penalty but have imposed gubernatorial moratoria or simply have not carried out an execution in years.
At the federal level, the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 made virtually every homicide within federal jurisdiction potentially death-eligible.5Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel. Overview Federal executions were paused under a Biden-era moratorium. In April 2026, the Department of Justice rescinded that moratorium, reinstated pentobarbital as the execution drug, directed the Bureau of Prisons to add the firing squad as an available method, and authorized seeking death sentences against 44 defendants.6U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department Takes Actions to Strengthen the Federal Death Penalty Three people remain on federal death row as of early 2026.
Countries That Keep the Law But Don’t Execute
Twenty-three countries fall into the “abolitionist in practice” category. Their criminal codes still allow capital punishment, and their courts may still impose death sentences, but no one has been executed in at least a decade.
Russia is the clearest example. It imposed a moratorium in 1996 on joining the Council of Europe, and its Constitutional Court later ruled that no death sentences could be carried out.7International Federation for Human Rights. Russia and the Death Penalty Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine, removing the external pressure that originally produced the moratorium. The moratorium remains in place as of 2026.8Council of Europe. Timeline – Abolition of the Death Penalty
South Korea has not executed anyone since 1997, though its courts continue to issue death sentences. Around 60 people are currently on its death row.9The Advocates for Human Rights. The Republic of Korea’s Compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Death Penalty Repeal legislation has stalled repeatedly. The pattern is common in de facto abolitionist countries: the political will to end the death penalty formally often lags years behind the practical decision to stop using it.
Wartime-Only Countries
Nine countries have abolished the death penalty for ordinary offenses like murder but retain it for exceptional crimes, typically military offenses committed in wartime.
Brazil’s constitution bans the death penalty entirely except “in case of declared war,” and its Military Criminal Code lists eligible wartime offenses including treason, espionage, desertion, and genocide.10The Advocates for Human Rights. Brazil’s Compliance with the Convention Against Torture – The Death Penalty Chile followed a similar route, abolishing the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 2001 while keeping military offenses eligible.11Death Penalty Information Center. Countries That Have Abolished the Death Penalty Since 1976
Israel’s position changed in 2026. For decades it had been treated as de facto abolitionist, having executed only two people since 1948, with the last being Adolf Eichmann in 1962. In March 2026, the Knesset passed the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law, which mandates death by hanging for terrorism-related offenses tried before Israeli military courts. The law applies only to Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; Israeli citizens are explicitly excluded.12Death Penalty Information Center. Israel Passes Mandatory Death Penalty for Palestinians Convicted of Terrorism The UN’s anti-racism committee called the law a “grave human rights retrogression” that rolls back Israel’s long-standing moratorium.13Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Israel’s Discriminatory Death Penalty Law Marks Grave Human Rights Retrogression
What Crimes Can Carry the Death Penalty
Murder is the most common capital offense worldwide, but many retentionist countries extend the death penalty to crimes that don’t involve killing. Drug trafficking is the most widespread of these. Iran and Saudi Arabia together account for most drug-related executions globally, and Singapore imposes a mandatory death sentence for trafficking above specific weight thresholds, including more than 15 grams of heroin or 500 grams of cannabis.14Death Penalty Information Center. Iran, Saudi Arabia Lead the World in Use of Death Penalty for Drug Offenses “Mandatory” in these jurisdictions means the judge has no sentencing discretion once trafficking is proven.
A smaller group of countries, generally those drawing directly from religious law, impose capital punishment for blasphemy, apostasy, adultery, or same-sex conduct. Large-scale corruption and embezzlement are capital offenses in China. The UN has consistently said the death penalty, where it exists at all, should be limited to the “most serious crimes,” a phrase it interprets to mean intentional killing.
The Direction of Travel
More than two-thirds of the world’s countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. Since 1976, over 80 countries have moved from retentionist to abolitionist status, with recent additions including Papua New Guinea, Zambia, and the Central African Republic in 2022, and Zimbabwe for ordinary crimes in 2024.11Death Penalty Information Center. Countries That Have Abolished the Death Penalty Since 1976 Reversals are rare. Countries that stop executing almost never start again.
The UN General Assembly has passed ten non-binding resolutions calling for a global moratorium on executions. The most recent, adopted in December 2024, passed with 130 votes in favor, 32 against, and 22 abstentions. The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights goes further, requiring ratifying states to abolish the death penalty entirely, with the only permitted exception being wartime military offenses.15Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
And yet the 2024 execution count of 1,518 was a significant jump over prior years, driven almost entirely by rising numbers in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.2Amnesty International USA. Death Sentences and Executions 2024 The pool of countries using the death penalty keeps shrinking. The countries still in it are using it harder.