Roughly 55 countries still use the death penalty, and in 2024 governments carried out at least 1,518 executions worldwide, a 32 percent jump over the year before. Nearly all of that increase came from three countries: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. A fourth, China, is believed to execute more people than the rest of the world combined, but its figures are a state secret and are not included in that total. The countries that still use capital punishment are a shrinking minority — at least 144 nations have abolished it in law or in practice — but the ones that remain are executing more people, not fewer.
How Countries Are Classified
International monitors sort nations into four groups. Abolitionist for all crimes means capital punishment has been removed from every statute. Abolitionist for ordinary crimes means it has been removed for standard offenses but kept for narrow exceptions like military crimes in wartime. Abolitionist in practice covers countries that still have the death penalty on the books but have not executed anyone for at least ten years and are understood to have a policy against doing so.1Amnesty International. List of Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries Retentionist countries actively impose and carry out death sentences.
The line between “has the death penalty” and “uses the death penalty” is wide. Russia, for example, has maintained a moratorium on executions since 1996. It technically retains capital punishment in its criminal code but functionally sits with abolitionist states. Reading legal text alone would give a misleading picture.
Which Countries Still Carry Out Executions
Known executions are concentrated in a small handful of governments. In 2024, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq together accounted for roughly 91 percent of recorded executions worldwide.2Amnesty International. Death Sentences and Executions 2024
China
China is believed to execute more people than every other country combined. Exact numbers are a state secret, but human rights organizations estimate the figure runs into the thousands each year. Because of that secrecy, China is excluded from published global totals, which means the real worldwide number is far higher than any reported figure.3Death Penalty Information Center. Executions Around the World
Iran
Iran executed at least 975 people in 2024, more than any other country with publicly reported numbers.4Iran Human Rights. Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran 2024 A large share of those executions were for drug-related offenses rather than violent crimes. Iran alone has accounted for roughly two-thirds of all recorded executions worldwide in recent years, and its annual totals have climbed sharply.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia executed at least 345 people in 2024, placing it second among countries with verifiable data. Executions there are often carried out by sword, sometimes in public.
Iraq
Iraq carried out at least 63 executions in 2024 and holds an estimated 8,000 prisoners on death row. UN human rights experts have warned that the scale of its executions, which frequently follow trials tainted by torture-extracted confessions, could amount to crimes against humanity.5Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Scale and Cycle of Iraq’s Arbitrary Executions May Be a Crime Against Humanity
Other Active Retentionist Countries
Egypt, Vietnam, North Korea, Somalia, and Pakistan all maintain active death penalty systems, though reliable data from several of them is hard to obtain. Egypt has seen new death sentences climb past 500 in recent years.3Death Penalty Information Center. Executions Around the World Secrecy in North Korea, Afghanistan, and Vietnam makes even minimum totals difficult to verify.
The United States and Japan
The United States and Japan are the only two G7 nations that still have capital punishment. Japan executed no one in 2023 or 2024 but remains retentionist and resumed executions in 2025.6Death Penalty Information Center. Japan Performed No Executions in 2023, Making U.S. the Only G7 Country to Use Capital Punishment Last Year In the United States, the federal government can seek death sentences for a narrow set of crimes, but states carry out the vast majority of executions.7Death Penalty Information Center. Federal Death Penalty Twenty-seven states retain the death penalty; the rest have either abolished it or imposed moratoriums.8Death Penalty Information Center. State by State Whether a defendant faces a capital charge depends heavily on where in the country the crime took place.
What Crimes Can Get You Executed
International law holds that the death penalty should apply only to “the most serious crimes,” which the UN has interpreted to mean intentional killing.9Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Death Penalty Many retentionist countries go well past that threshold.
Drug Offenses
Thirty-four countries still impose the death penalty for drug-related crimes.10Death Penalty Information Center. Iran, Saudi Arabia Lead the World in Use of Death Penalty for Drug Offenses In 2024, nearly 40 percent of known executions worldwide were for drug convictions.11Penal Reform International. Key Facts Singapore mandates execution for anyone convicted of trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin, 250 grams of methamphetamine, or 500 grams of cannabis. Iran and Saudi Arabia together account for most drug-related executions.
Religious Offenses
At least 12 countries authorize the death penalty for blasphemy, apostasy, or similar religious offenses.12World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Killing in the Name of God: State-sanctioned Violations of Religious Freedom Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia all allow execution for offenses as vague as insulting a sacred figure or publicly rejecting the state religion.13Pew Research Center. Four-in-Ten Countries and Territories Worldwide Had Blasphemy Laws in 2019 These laws are concentrated in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of South and Southeast Asia.
Treason and Political Crimes
Treason and espionage remain capital offenses in a range of retentionist countries, including the United States at the federal level, China, and much of the Middle East. Some countries that otherwise limit the death penalty to murder keep exceptions for crimes seen as threatening the state’s survival. In certain jurisdictions these provisions are used primarily against political opponents or during periods of civil unrest.
How Executions Are Carried Out
Methods vary widely by region and legal tradition.
- Lethal injection is the primary method in the United States, China, and Vietnam. A typical protocol uses an anesthetic, a paralytic agent, and potassium chloride to stop the heart.14Amnesty International Australia. Death Penalty: Methods of Execution Used Around the World
- Hanging is the most widely used method globally, employed in Iran, Iraq, Japan, India, Bangladesh, and many other countries.
- Firing squad is used in China, Indonesia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Yemen, among others.
- Beheading is routine in Saudi Arabia, where executions are carried out by sword, often in public.
- Electrocution remains authorized in several U.S. states as a backup when lethal injection drugs are unavailable.
- Nitrogen hypoxia was used for the first time by Alabama in January 2024, replacing the prisoner’s breathable air with pure nitrogen. UN human rights experts warned beforehand that the untested method could violate the prohibition on torture.15Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. United States: UN Experts Alarmed at Prospect of First-Ever Untested Execution
Pharmaceutical companies have refused to sell their products for use in executions, and European export restrictions have made traditional three-drug lethal injection protocols hard to obtain. Several U.S. states have turned to compounding pharmacies, which mix custom drug formulations, to source execution chemicals.16Death Penalty Information Center. Compounding Pharmacies Compounded drugs are not subject to the same quality controls as commercially manufactured pharmaceuticals.
Where the Global Trend Is Heading
Countries are abandoning the death penalty, not adopting it. No country that has abolished capital punishment has subsequently reintroduced it as settled policy. Around 170 states have either abolished the death penalty or imposed some form of moratorium, and legal abolition efforts were advancing in at least four more countries as of 2024.17Death Penalty Information Center. The Death Penalty in 2024: International9Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Death Penalty In December 2024, the UN General Assembly passed its tenth resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions, with 130 votes in favor, 32 against, and 22 abstentions, the highest level of support yet.18World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Two Thirds of the United Nations General Assembly Vote in Favor of the 10th Resolution for a Moratorium on the Death Penalty The resolutions are not legally binding, but they signal the direction of international opinion.
That trend runs alongside a counter-trend in the countries that still execute. The 2024 total of 1,518 recorded executions was 32 percent higher than 2023’s, and that figure still excludes China’s unknown thousands.2Amnesty International. Death Sentences and Executions 2024 A growing majority of nations treats capital punishment as a human rights violation, while a shrinking minority is executing more people than ever.