In 2025, 2,707 people were executed globally — the highest figure since 1981 — in just 17 countries. Meanwhile, 113 nations have fully abolished the death penalty, up from just 16 in 1977. Here's the full picture.
In 2025, 2,707 people were executed globally — the highest figure since 1981 — in just 17 countries. Meanwhile, 113 nations have fully abolished the death penalty, up from just 16 in 1977. Here’s the full picture.
The dispute about whether capital punishment is a valid way to enforce the law remains one of the most enduring debates in criminal justice and human rights. The abolishment of the death penalty is relatively recent in historical terms — the first countries to abolish it were Venezuela in 1854, San Marino in 1865, and Portugal in 1867. Michigan was the first government in the world to abolish the death penalty for ordinary crimes, in 1846.
In 2026, the picture is one of two simultaneous trends that appear to contradict each other: the number of countries using the death penalty continues to decline toward historic lows, while the number of actual executions recorded in 2025 hit the highest figure since 1981. The death penalty is becoming rarer — and, where it persists, more intense.
How Many Countries Still Use the Death Penalty in 2026?
As of 2026, approximately 55 countries retain the death penalty in law, though only 17 were known to have carried out executions in 2025. The global picture has four categories:
| Category | Status | Approx. Countries | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abolitionist for all crimes | Abolished | 113 | Most of Europe, Australia, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, most of Latin America. Zimbabwe joined this group in 2025. |
| Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only | Partial | 8 | Retain death penalty only for exceptional crimes such as wartime offences — Brazil, Chile, Israel, Peru |
| Abolitionist in practice | No executions | 23 | Retain the penalty in law but have not executed anyone in over a decade — Russia, Algeria, Morocco, Sri Lanka |
| Retentionist | Active | 55 | Retain and actively use the death penalty — China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, USA, Egypt, Singapore, Japan |
In Europe, Belarus remains the only country to retain the death penalty. The United States is the only country in the Americas known to have carried out executions in 2025, with 47 executions — the highest since 2009, driven largely by Florida with 19 executions. Trinidad and Tobago imposed new death sentences but did not carry out executions.
“When Amnesty International started campaigning against the death penalty in 1977, only 16 countries had abolished it. By the end of 2025, that number had risen to 113. The direction of travel is clear — but the pace has stalled.”
Which Countries Execute the Most People? — 2025 Data
The 2025 figures represent a dramatic spike driven almost entirely by Iran. At least 2,159 executions were recorded there — more than double the 2024 figure and the highest number recorded in Iran since 1981. Amnesty International noted that Iran carried out executions for drug-related offences that do not meet the international law threshold of “most serious crimes.” By the end of 2025, Iran had executed at least 39 children since 2016.
China remains the world’s leading executioner by any reasonable estimate — but the true figure is classified as a state secret. Amnesty International’s global totals explicitly exclude China, North Korea, and Vietnam, where the death penalty is believed to be used extensively but independently unverifiable. The 2,707 figure is therefore a significant undercount of the true global total.
“The 2,707 executions recorded in 2025 exclude China, where thousands more are believed to have been carried out. The true global figure is unknown — and deliberately so.”
The Death Penalty in the United States
The United States occupies a peculiar position in the global death penalty landscape: it is the world’s largest democracy and the only country in the Americas to carry out executions. It sits alongside Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China in Amnesty International’s list of top executing countries — a comparison that successive US administrations have found uncomfortable.
The US death penalty is administered at the state level, and practice varies enormously. As of 2026, 27 states retain the death penalty in law, though only 11 states actually carried out executions in 2025. The remaining states that retain the law have either imposed moratoriums or simply have not executed anyone for extended periods.
US states that carried out executions in 2025
Florida led with 19 executions — far more than any other state. Texas, which historically dominated US execution statistics, carried out fewer. Other executing states in 2025 included Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and several others. The geographic concentration in the South has been consistent for decades.
The death row population
Approximately 2,200 people remain on death row in the United States as of 2026, a number that has been declining steadily from a peak of over 3,500 in 2000. The declining death row population reflects falling numbers of death sentences being imposed (a national trend) as well as exonerations, commutations, and deaths from natural causes. Since 1973, more than 190 people have been exonerated from death row after being wrongfully convicted.
Methods of Execution
The methods used to carry out the death penalty vary significantly by country. There are five main methods in current use worldwide:
- Lethal injection — the most common method in the US, also used in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Has been subject to significant legal challenge over the specific drugs used and the potential for causing suffering.
- Hanging — used in Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Japan, Singapore, and several other countries. Japan carries out hangings in secret — prisoners are typically given only hours of notice before execution.
- Beheading — the primary method in Saudi Arabia, typically carried out by sword in public or semi-public settings.
- Shooting — used in China, North Korea, Belarus, and several other countries. China uses lethal injection for most executions but shooting remains in use in some cases.
- Stoning — remains a legal sentence in several countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and others for specific offences, though documented cases are relatively rare.
The Death Penalty Debate — Both Sides
- Permanent incapacitation — eliminates any future risk from the offender
- Deterrence — the ultimate punishment may discourage certain crimes
- Justice for victims and families in cases of the most serious crimes
- Cost argument — long-term imprisonment is expensive (though death penalty cases typically cost more due to legal proceedings)
- Public safety — keeps the most dangerous individuals permanently removed from society
- Wrongful execution — since 1973, 190+ people have been exonerated from US death row
- Deterrence evidence is weak — states and countries without the death penalty do not show higher murder rates
- Racial and economic bias — disproportionately applied to minorities and the poor in most jurisdictions
- State-sanctioned killing is morally contradictory as a response to killing
- Violates the absolute prohibition of torture when carried out inhumanely
- Irreversible — no correction possible if new evidence emerges
The wrongful execution argument is perhaps the most powerful — and the most difficult to dismiss. The film The Life of David Gale presents this dilemma compellingly. But the real-world data is even more sobering: more than 190 people in the US alone have been exonerated from death row since 1973, suggesting that the system has condemned innocent people to death and in some cases may have executed them before the error was discovered.
The Direction of Travel
The long-term trend is unmistakably toward abolition. When Amnesty International began campaigning against the death penalty in 1977, only 16 countries had abolished it. By the end of 2025, that number stood at 113. Zimbabwe became the latest country to abolish the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 2025. The direction of travel is clear.
What has not changed is the concentrated use of the death penalty by a small number of states that show no sign of abolishing it. Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, and North Korea account for the vast majority of global executions, and none of them face meaningful international consequences for their use of capital punishment. The isolation of executing countries is real — but it has not translated into pressure sufficient to produce change in the countries where it is most heavily used.
The debate about whether capital punishment is a valid way to enforce the law remains, as the original article put it, very much relevant. The deterrence of capital punishment and the justice it might provide to victims’ families are legitimate arguments that deserve honest engagement. The execution of innocent people, the racial and economic disparities in its application, and the moral weight of state-sanctioned killing are equally legitimate counterarguments. On this question, reasonable people continue to disagree — and the data does not settle it as definitively as either side would prefer.
Source: Amnesty International Death Sentences and Executions 2025 (published May 2026), Death Penalty Information Center, Amnesty International USA. All execution figures exclude China, where data is classified as a state secret. Country counts and legal status may vary slightly between sources due to differing methodologies and definitions.