1 of 5 According to Amnesty International, 11 countries are continuously executing people Photo: Getty Images/Via BBC According to Amnesty International, 11 countries are continuously executing people Photo: Getty Images/Via BBC
WARNING: This text contains explicit descriptions of execution methods that may be disturbing to some readers.
A convicted murderer in the United States is expected to become the first person in the world to be executed with nitrogen gas this Thursday (25).
Also on Thursday, a Japanese man was sentenced to hang for an arson attack that killed 36 people.
The number of executions is increasing worldwide, even though many countries have abolished the death penalty.
How many countries have the death penalty?
According to the latest figures compiled by Amnesty International in 2022:
- 55 countries provided for the death penalty in their legislation
- Nine of these countries imposed the death penalty only for the most serious crimes, such as multiple homicides or war crimes.
- 23 countries have the death penalty in law but have not used it for 10 years.
How many people are executed every year?
Amnesty International's data is a combination of official figures, media data and information from people sentenced to death, their families and representatives.
China does not publish information about its use of the death penalty.
Excluding China, Amnesty International recorded 883 executions worldwide in 2021.
This number is 53% higher than the 579 people executed in 2021 and represents the highest number of executions since 2017.
However, it is significantly lower than the figures for 1988, 1989 or 2015, when more than 1,500 people were executed in a single year.
2 of 5 Graphic shows the number of executions worldwide Photo: BBC Graphic shows the number of executions worldwide Photo: BBC
According to Amnesty International, at least 2,016 death sentences were handed down in 52 countries in 2022.
In 2021, 56 countries handed down at least 2,052 death sentences.
Many prisoners spend years or even decades on death row before being executed.
Which countries use the death penalty most often?
Twenty countries executed people in 2022, compared to 18 in 2021.
Amnesty International believes that China uses the death penalty more frequently than any other country. The country is believed to execute thousands of people every year, but this cannot be confirmed.
In addition to China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United States were the countries that executed the most people.
3 out of 5 Ranking of top performing countries Photo: BBC Ranking of top performing countries Photo: BBC
How has the number of executions changed in different countries?
Amnesty International lists 11 countries in the world where people are continually executed every year.
These include China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Vietnam and Yemen.
It is also suspected that North Korea “likely uses the death penalty on an ongoing basis,” although this cannot be independently confirmed.
4 out of 5 Map shows countries where executions take place Photo: BBC Map shows countries where executions take place Photo: BBC
The number of executions in Saudi Arabia in 2022 was the highest in 30 years.
Five countries Bahrain, Comoros, Laos, Niger and South Korea sentenced people to death in 2022 and had not carried out the sentence for several years.
However, the number of executions in the United States has declined since a peak of 98 executions in 1999.
How many people are executed for drug crimes?
According to Amnesty International, there were 325 executions for drugrelated crimes worldwide in 2021, including:
- 255 in Iran
- 57 in Saudi Arabia
- 11 in Singapore
In 2023, the first woman in almost 20 years was executed in Singapore. Saridewi Djaman was convicted of heroin trafficking in 2018.
How many countries have abolished the death penalty?
The death penalty is not carried out in 112 countries, compared to 48 in 1991.
Six countries have completely or partially abolished the death penalty in 2022.
Four countries Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic have completely abolished the practice.
Equatorial Guinea and Zambia said the death penalty would be imposed for the most serious crimes.
In April 2023, the Malaysian Parliament also voted to abolish the mandatory death penalty for 11 serious crimes, including murder and terrorism.
The Ghanaian parliament voted to completely abolish the death penalty in July 2023.
How do countries around the world use the death penalty?
Saudi Arabia was the only country to list beheading as a method of execution in 2022.
Other methods included hanging, lethal injection and death by shooting.
5 out of 5 Bed with straps to immobilize the executed person Photo: Getty Images/Via BBC Bed with straps to immobilize the executed person Photo: Getty Images/Via BBC
The US state of Alabama is expected to execute Kenneth Smith, who was convicted of murder with nitrogen gas, this Thursday.
He will be the first person to be executed in this way. Smith's lawyers argue that this unprecedented form of punishment is “cruel and unusual.”
Alabama and two other states have approved the use of nitrogen as the drugs most commonly used in lethal injections become harder to find.
The lack of substances contributed to the decline in the death penalty in the United States.