Executions Around the World

2023

Amnesty International record­ed at least 1,153 exe­cu­tions in 16 coun­tries – a 31% increase from the 883 exe­cu­tions in 20 coun­tries in 2022 – mark­ing the high­est total since 2015 but the low­est num­ber of exe­cut­ing coun­tries on record with the orga­ni­za­tion. As in pre­vi­ous years, exe­cu­tion totals do not include the esti­mat­ed thou­sands of exe­cu­tions car­ried out by the world’s lead­ing exe­cu­tion­er, China, where exe­cu­tion data is con­sid­ered a state secret; secre­cy prac­tices and chal­lenges access­ing infor­ma­tion in Afghanistan, North Korea, Palestine, Syria, and Vietnam also cre­at­ed dif­fi­cul­ties in iden­ti­fy­ing min­i­mum totals. This world­wide increase was pri­mar­i­ly dri­ven by a 48% rise in exe­cu­tions in Iran, which account­ed for 74% of exe­cu­tions world­wide. Iran (at least 853 exe­cu­tions), Saudi Arabia (172 exe­cu­tions), Somalia (at least 38 exe­cu­tions), the U.S. (24 exe­cu­tions), and Iraq (at least 16 exe­cu­tions) were the top five coun­tries respon­si­ble for record­ed exe­cu­tions. Compared to the pri­or year, all top five coun­tries, except Saudi Arabia which expe­ri­enced a slight decrease (196 in 2022), expe­ri­enced an increase in executions.

The num­ber of new death sen­tences increased by 20% to 2,428 in 2023, the high­est total since 2018; how­ev­er, dif­fi­cul­ties access­ing infor­ma­tion across coun­tries makes annu­al com­par­isons dif­fi­cult. 52 coun­tries hand­ed down new death sen­tences, rep­re­sent­ing no change in the total num­ber of coun­tries from the year pri­or, although the com­po­si­tion of coun­tries dif­fered slight­ly. Bahrain, Comoros, South Sudan, Sudan, and Zambia did not hand down death sen­tences in 2023 despite hav­ing done so in 2022. Belarus, Cameroon, Japan, Morocco/​Western Sahara and Zimbabwe imposed death sen­tences in 2023 after a hia­tus. Bangladesh (from 169+ in 2022 to 248+ in 2023), Egypt (from 538 to 590), Iraq (from 41+ to 138+), Kenya (from 79 to 131), Lebanon (from 2+ to 11+), Malaysia (from 16+ to 38+), Nigeria (from 77+ to 246+), and Somalia (from 10+ to 31+) all expe­ri­enced sig­nif­i­cant increas­es in the num­ber of new death sen­tences imposed. There were at least 27,687 peo­ple known to be under sen­tence of death at the end of the year. 

Commutations or par­dons occurred in 27 coun­tries, as well as 9 exon­er­a­tions that occurred in Kenya (5), the U.S. (3), and Zimbabwe (1). Worldwide efforts towards abo­li­tion con­tin­ued, with abo­li­tion bills reviewed in the par­lia­ments of Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, and Zimbabwe. The elim­i­na­tion of the manda­to­ry death penal­ty in Malaysia was enact­ed, as was Pakistan’s elim­i­na­tion of the death penal­ty for drug-related offenses.

View the full Amnesty 2023 report here.

Countries with the Most Confirmed Executions in 2023*

*Note: Minimum exe­cu­tion totals are unknown for China (esti­mat­ed in the thou­sands), Afghanistan, North Korea, Palestine, Syria, and Vietnam. The + indi­cates that more exe­cu­tions are sus­pect­ed but unable to be ver­i­fied. See Amnesty’s report for the full list (p. 39).

Countries with the Most Death Sentences in 2023**

**Death-sen­tenc­ing totals unknown for Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and Syria. See Amnesty’s report for the full list (p. 40).

2022

Amnesty International record­ed at least 883 exe­cu­tions in 20 coun­tries – a 53% increase from the 579 exe­cu­tions in 18 coun­tries in 2021 – mark­ing the high­est total since 2017. As in pre­vi­ous years, exe­cu­tion totals do not include the esti­mat­ed thou­sands of exe­cu­tions car­ried out by the world’s lead­ing exe­cu­tion­er, China, where exe­cu­tion data is con­sid­ered a state secret; secre­cy prac­tices in North Korea, Vietnam, Syria, and Afghanistan also cre­at­ed dif­fi­cul­ties in iden­ti­fy­ing totals. This world­wide increase was pri­mar­i­ly dri­ven by a 59% increase in the Middle East and North Africa Region, where 93% of known exe­cu­tions were car­ried out; Iran was respon­si­ble for 70% of exe­cu­tions in the region, while Saudi Arabia was respon­si­ble for 24%. China (unknown, esti­mat­ed 1,000s), Iran (at least 576 exe­cu­tions), Saudi Arabia (196 exe­cu­tions), Egypt (24 exe­cu­tions), and the U.S. (18 exe­cu­tions) were the top five coun­tries respon­si­ble for exe­cu­tions. Compared to the pri­or year, exe­cu­tions in Iran increased by 83% and exe­cu­tions in Saudi Arabia tripled.

Though hard to deter­mine, there were at least 2,016 death sen­tences amongst 52 coun­tries in 2022 com­pared to 2,052 death sen­tences amongst 56 coun­tries in 2021. Bahrain, Comoros, Laos, Niger, and South Korea all imposed death sen­tences after a hia­tus. Belarus, Cameroon, Japan, Malawi, Morocco/​Western Sahara, Oman, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zimbabwe were amongst the coun­tries with exe­cu­tions but with­out any new death sen­tences in 2022. There were at least 28,282 peo­ple known to be under sen­tence of death at the end of the year. 

Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic abol­ished the death penal­ty in 2022. View the full Amnesty 2022 report here.

Countries with the Most Confirmed Executions in 2022*

*Note: Execution totals unknown for North Korea, Vietnam, Syria, and Afghanistan. The + indi­cates that more exe­cu­tions are sus­pect­ed but unable to be verified.

Countries with the Most Death Sentences in 2022**

**Death-sen­tenc­ing totals unknown for Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Qatar, and Syria.

2021

Amnesty International record­ed at least 579 exe­cu­tions in 18 coun­tries in 2021, up 19.9% from the 483 con­firmed exe­cu­tions car­ried out in 18 coun­tries in 2020. The total, which was down 43.9% from the 1,032 con­firmed exe­cu­tions car­ried out five years ear­li­er (2016) and 64.6% below the 25-year-high of 1,634 exe­cu­tions report­ed in 2015, was the sec­ond low­est Amnesty has record­ed since 2010. The 18 coun­tries that car­ried out exe­cu­tions remained the low­est since Amnesty began its record-keep­ing. As in pre­vi­ous years, the exe­cu­tion totals do not include the esti­mat­ed thou­sands of exe­cu­tions car­ried out in China, where exe­cu­tion data is con­sid­ered a state secret. Secrecy prac­tices in North Korea, Vietnam, Oman, and Belarus also pre­vent­ed Amnesty from deter­min­ing the num­ber of exe­cu­tions in those coun­tries. Excluding China, three mid­dle Eastern coun­tries — Iran (at least 314), Egypt (at least 83), and Saudi Arabia (65) — col­lec­tive­ly account­ed for 80% of the con­firmed exe­cu­tions in 2021. Executions in Iran increased by 68 in 2021, the high­est since it car­ried out more than 500 exe­cu­tions in 2017 and up 28% from the 246 con­firmed exe­cu­tions in 2020. Saudi Arabia more than dou­bled the num­ber of peo­ple it put to death in 2020 (27). The 11 exe­cu­tions in the U.S. were the ninth most record­ed in any nation, although Vietnam’s and North Korea’s exe­cu­tion totals are not known and were likely higher.

With COVID-19 restric­tions on courts ful­ly or par­tial­ly lift­ed, the num­ber of death sen­tences imposed through­out the world rose sharply in 2021. The 2,052 con­firmed death sen­tences imposed in 2021 was 38.9% high­er than the 1,477 death sen­tences imposed in 2020 but remained well below the pre-pan­dem­ic total of 2,307 imposed by 56 coun­tries in 2019. Death sen­tences soared in the South Asian nations of Bangladesh (at least 181), India (144), and Pakistan (at least 129), up from 113+, 77, and 49+ in 2020. But again those totals were sig­nif­i­cant­ly below the 162 death sen­tences imposed in India in 2018 and the more than 632 death sen­tences imposed in Pakistan and more than 220 imposed in Bangladesh in 2019. At least 18 coun­tries imposed more death sen­tences than the 18 new death sen­tences imposed in the United States in 2021, and giv­en the absence of infor­ma­tion from which to con­firm death sen­tences in some coun­tries, the num­ber is likely higher.

Amnesty report­ed that at least 28,670 peo­ple were known to be under sen­tence of death at the end of 2021, with nine coun­tries con­tribut­ing to 82% of that total. That total was up frac­tion­al­ly (0.4%) from the 28,567 report­ed to on death rows around the world at the end of 2020. View the full Amnesty 2021 report here and Amnesty’s 2021 Facts and Figures here.

Countries with the Most Confirmed Executions in 2021

*Execution totals not known for Belarus, North Korea, Oman, and Vietnam.

Countries with the Most Death Sentences in 2021**

**Death-sen­tenc­ing totals not known for Ethiopia, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Syria, Tanzania, and Thailand.

2020

Amnesty International record­ed at least 483 exe­cu­tions in 18 coun­tries in 2020, down 26.5% from the 657 con­firmed exe­cu­tions car­ried out in 20 coun­tries in 2019. The total — which was the third con­sec­u­tive year in which con­firmed exe­cu­tions reached a 10-year low and the sixth year in a row in which con­firmed exe­cu­tions declined — was 70.6% below the 25-year-high total of 1,634 report­ed exe­cu­tions in 2015. As in pre­vi­ous years, the exe­cu­tion total does not include the esti­mat­ed thou­sands of exe­cu­tions car­ried out in China, which treats data on the death penal­ty as a state secret. Excluding China, 88% of all report­ed exe­cu­tions took place in just four coun­tries — Iran (246+), Egypt (107+), Iraq (45+), and Saudi Arabia (27) — which had com­bined for 86% of report­ed exe­cu­tions in 2019. The 17 exe­cu­tions in the U.S. were the sixth most record­ed in any nation, although Vietnam’s and North Korea’s exe­cu­tion totals are not known and were likely higher.

Amnesty record­ed at least 1,477 death sen­tences in 54 coun­tries in 2020, down 35.9% from the 2,307 con­firmed death sen­tences imposed in 2019 as the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic dis­rupt­ed crim­i­nal pro­ceed­ings across the world. Amnesty believes the actu­al num­ber of death sen­tences was high­er, again not­ing that it did not receive infor­ma­tion on death sen­tences imposed in three coun­tries — Malaysia, Nigeria and Sri Lanka — that had report­ed sig­nif­i­cant num­bers of death sen­tences in pre­vi­ous years. At least 20 coun­tries imposed more death sen­tences than the 18 new death sen­tences imposed in the United States in 2020, and giv­en the absence of infor­ma­tion from which to con­firm death sen­tences in some coun­tries, the num­ber is likely higher.

Amnesty report­ed that at least 28,567 peo­ple were known to be on death rows around the world at the end of 2019, 7% more than the 26,604 peo­ple known to have been on glob­al death rows at the end of 2019. With known death sen­tences sig­nif­i­cant­ly down, the increase more like­ly reflects bet­ter infor­ma­tion gath­er­ing, rather than a surge in the death-row pop­u­la­tion. View the full Amnesty 2020 report here and Amnesty’s 2020 Facts and Figures here.

Countries with the Most Confirmed Executions in 2020*

*Execution totals not known for Vietnam, North Korea, and Syria.

Countries with the Most Death Sentences in 2020**

**Death-sen­tenc­ing totals not known for Iran, Kenya, North Korea, Somalia, and Syria

2019

Amnesty International record­ed at least 657 exe­cu­tions in 20 coun­tries world­wide in 2019. The total — one of the small­est since Amnesty began track­ing exe­cu­tions in 1979 — was a 5% decrease from the at least 690 exe­cu­tions record­ed in 2018 and was down 60% from the 25-year-high total of 1,634 report­ed exe­cu­tions in 2015. As in pre­vi­ous years, the exe­cu­tion total does not include the esti­mat­ed thou­sands of exe­cu­tions car­ried out in China, which treats data on the death penal­ty as a state secret. Excluding China, 86% of all report­ed exe­cu­tions took place in just four coun­tries — Iran (251), Saudi Arabia (184), Iraq (100+), and Egypt (32+). The 22 exe­cu­tions in the U.S. were the sixth most of any nation, although Vietnam’s and North Korea’s exe­cu­tion totals are not known.

Amnesty record­ed at least 2,307 death sen­tences in 56 coun­tries in 2019, down 9% from the 2,531 report­ed in 2018. However, Amnesty believes the actu­al num­ber of death sen­tences was high­er, giv­en that the orga­ni­za­tion did not receive infor­ma­tion on death sen­tences imposed in three coun­tries — Malaysia, Nigeria and Sri Lanka — that had report­ed sig­nif­i­cant num­bers of death sen­tences in pre­vi­ous years. The U.S. ranked 12^th in death sen­tences known to have been imposed. Death sen­tences imposed in China, Iran, North Korea, and Syria were not known.

Amnesty report­ed that at least 26,604 peo­ple were known to be on death rows around the world at the end of 2019, 38% more than the 19,336 peo­ple known to have been on glob­al death rows at the end of 2018. With known death sen­tences down, the increase more like­ly reflects bet­ter infor­ma­tion gath­er­ing, rather than a surge in the death-row pop­u­la­tion. View the full Amnesty 2019 report here and Amnesty’s 2019 Facts and Figures here.

Countries with the Most Confirmed Executions in 2019*

*Execution totals not known for Vietnam, North Korea, and Syria.

Countries with the Most Death Sentences in 2019**

**Death-sen­tenc­ing totals not known for Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, North Korea, Sri Lanka, and Syria
 

2018

Amnesty International record­ed at least 690 exe­cu­tions world­wide in 2018, a 31% decline from the 993 exe­cu­tions it record­ed in 2017 and 58% below the 25-year-high total of 1,634 report­ed exe­cu­tions in 2015. 20 coun­tries were known to have car­ried out judi­cial exe­cu­tions in 2018. As in pre­vi­ous years, the exe­cu­tion total does not include the esti­mat­ed thou­sands of exe­cu­tions car­ried out in China, which treats data on the death penal­ty as a state secret. Five coun­tries account­ed for 84% of all record­ed exe­cu­tions — Iran (253), Saudi Arabia (149), Vietnam (85), Iraq (52) and Egypt (43). The 25 exe­cu­tions in the U.S. were the sev­enth most of any nation.

Amnesty record­ed at least 2,531 death sen­tences in 54 coun­tries in 2018, down 2% from the 2,591 report­ed in 2017, and a 19% decline from the report­ed 3,117 death sen­tenced imposed in 55 coun­tries in 2016. The U.S. ranked 12^th in death sen­tences known to have been imposed.

Amnesty report­ed that at least 19,336 peo­ple were known to be on death rows around the world at the end of 2018, a 12% decline from the 21,919 peo­ple known to be on death row glob­al­ly at the end of 2017. View the full Amnesty 2018 report here and Amnesty’s 2018 Facts and Figures here.

Countries with the Most Confirmed Executions in 2018

Countries with the Most Death Sentences in 2018**

** Death-sen­tenc­ing totals not known for Iran and North Korea
 

2017
 

Amnesty International record­ed at least 993 exe­cu­tions in 2017, a 4% decline from 2016 and a 39% decline from the 25-year-high total of 1,634 report­ed exe­cu­tions in 2015. 23 coun­tries were known to have car­ried out judi­cial exe­cu­tions in 2017. As in pre­vi­ous years, the exe­cu­tion total does not include the esti­mat­ed thou­sands of exe­cu­tions car­ried out in China, which treats data on the death penal­ty as a state secret. Four coun­tries — Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Pakistan — account­ed for 84% of the con­firmed exe­cu­tions in the rest of the world in 2017. The same four coun­tries account­ed for 87% of the world’s con­firmed exe­cu­tions in 2016. The United States dropped to 8^th in doc­u­ment­ed exe­cu­tions (23) in 2017, sur­passed by Somalia’s total of 24 report­ed exe­cu­tions. However, the U.S. may also rank below Vietnam, which also keeps its exe­cu­tion information secret.

Amnesty record­ed at least 2,591 death sen­tences imposed in 53 coun­tries world­wide in 2017, down 17% from the report­ed 3,117 death sen­tenced imposed in 55 coun­tries in 2016. The U.S. ranked 11^th in death sen­tences imposed. Amnesty report­ed that at least 21,919 peo­ple were known to be on death rows around the world at the end of 2017. View the full Amnesty 2017 report here, Amnesty’s sum­ma­ry of the report here, and Amnesty’s 2017 Facts and Figures here.

Countries with the Most Confirmed Executions in 2017

Countries with the Most Death Sentences in 2017**

** Death-sen­tenc­ing totals not known for Iran, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea
 

2016

23 coun­tries were known to have car­ried out judi­cial exe­cu­tions in 2016. At least 1,032 exe­cu­tions were car­ried out in 2016, a 37% decrease from the pre­vi­ous year. As in pre­vi­ous years, this fig­ure does not include the esti­mat­ed thou­sands of exe­cu­tions car­ried out in China, which treats data on the death penal­ty as a state secret. Four coun­tries — Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Pakistan — were respon­si­ble for 87% of the world’s con­firmed exe­cu­tions in 2016. The United States ranked 7^th in doc­u­ment­ed exe­cu­tions (20) in 2016. However, the U.S. may actu­al­ly rank behind Vietnam, as well. A report of the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security that became pub­lic in February 2017 revealed that the coun­try secret­ly exe­cut­ed 429 pris­on­ers between August 6, 2013 and June 30, 2016. As a result of improved data col­lec­tion, Amnesty was able to doc­u­ment that at least 3,117 peo­ple were sen­tenced to death in 55 coun­tries in 2016. View the full Amnesty 2016 report here and Amnesty’s sum­ma­ry of the report here.

Countries with the Most Confirmed Executions 2016

2015

2015: At least 25 coun­tries were known to have car­ried out judi­cial exe­cu­tions in 2015. At least 1,634 exe­cu­tions were car­ried out in 2015, the high­est num­ber in 25 years. This fig­ure does not include the thou­sands of exe­cu­tions that were believed to be car­ried out in China. Beginning in 2009, Amnesty International ceased to pub­lish min­i­mum fig­ures for the use of the death penal­ty in China, where such sta­tis­tics are con­sid­ered to be state secrets. 89% of all record­ed exe­cu­tions in 2015 took place in 3 coun­tries: Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. The United States ranked 5^th in doc­u­ment­ed exe­cu­tions (28) in 2015. However, the U.S. may actu­al­ly also rank behind Vietnam. A report of the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security that became pub­lic in February 2017 revealed that the coun­try secret­ly exe­cut­ed 429 pris­on­ers between August 6, 2013 and June 30, 2016. At least 1,998 peo­ple are known to have been sen­tenced to death in 2015, a decrease com­pared to 2014. View the Amnesty 2015 report here.

2014

At least 22 coun­tries were known to have car­ried out judi­cial exe­cu­tions in 2014, the same as in 2013. At least 607 exe­cu­tions were car­ried out in 2014. This fig­ure does not include the thou­sands of exe­cu­tions that were believed to be car­ried out in China. Beginning in 2009, Amnesty International ceased to pub­lish min­i­mum fig­ures for the use of the death penal­ty in China, where such sta­tis­tics are con­sid­ered to be state secrets. The United States ranked 5^th in doc­u­ment­ed exe­cu­tions (35) in 2014. However, the U.S. may actu­al­ly also rank behind Vietnam. A report of the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security that became pub­lic in February 2017 revealed that the coun­try secret­ly exe­cut­ed 429 pris­on­ers between August 6, 2013 and June 30, 2016. At least 2,466 peo­ple are known to have been sen­tenced to death in 2014, an increase of 28% com­pared with 2013. The increase was main­ly due to large num­bers of death sen­tences in Egypt and Nigeria, where mass sen­tences were imposed in sin­gle cas­es with large num­bers of defen­dants. View the Amnesty 2014 report here.

2013

At least 22 coun­tries were known to have car­ried out judi­cial exe­cu­tions in 2013. At least 778 exe­cu­tions were car­ried out in 2013. This fig­ure does not include the thou­sands of exe­cu­tions that were believed to be car­ried out in China. Beginning in 2009, Amnesty International ceased to pub­lish min­i­mum fig­ures for the use of the death penal­ty in China, where such sta­tis­tics are con­sid­ered to be state secrets. The United States ranked 5^th in doc­u­ment­ed exe­cu­tions (35) in 2015. However, the U.S. may actu­al­ly also rank behind Vietnam. A report of the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security that became pub­lic in February 2017 revealed that the coun­try secret­ly exe­cut­ed 429 pris­on­ers between August 6, 2013 and June 30, 2016. View the Amnesty 2013 report here.

2012

At least 21 coun­tries were known to have car­ried out judi­cial exe­cu­tions in 2012. At least 682 exe­cu­tions were car­ried out in 2012. This fig­ure does not include the thou­sands of exe­cu­tions that were believed to be car­ried out in China. Beginning in 2009, Amnesty International ceased to pub­lish min­i­mum fig­ures for the use of the death penal­ty in China, where such sta­tis­tics are con­sid­ered to be state secrets. View the Amnesty 2012 report here.

2011

At least 20 coun­tries were known to have car­ried out judi­cial exe­cu­tions in 2011. At least 676 exe­cu­tions were car­ried out in 2011. This fig­ure does not include the thou­sands of exe­cu­tions that were believed to be car­ried out in China. Beginning in 2009, Amnesty International ceased to pub­lish min­i­mum fig­ures for the use of the death penal­ty in China, where such sta­tis­tics are con­sid­ered to be state secrets. View the Amnesty 2011 report here.

2005 – 2010

2010: At least 23 coun­tries were known to have car­ried out judi­cial exe­cu­tions in 2010. At least 527 exe­cu­tions were car­ried out in 2010. This fig­ure does not include the thou­sands of exe­cu­tions that were believed to be car­ried out in China. Last year Amnesty International decid­ed not to pub­lish min­i­mum fig­ures for the use of the death penal­ty in China, where such sta­tis­tics are con­sid­ered to be state secrets. View the Amnesty 2010 report here.

2009: Eighteen coun­tries car­ried out exe­cu­tions in 2009. Amnesty International doc­u­ment­ed the exe­cu­tions of 714, but this total does not include fig­ures from China where the major­i­ty of the world’s exe­cu­tions take place. The real glob­al total is sig­nif­i­cant­ly high­er. The five coun­tries with the most exe­cu­tions are Iran (388+), Iraq (120+), Saudi Arabia (69+), the United States (52), and China, which exe­cut­ed more peo­ple than the rest of the world com­bined, accord­ing to same report by Amnesty International.

2008: At least 2,390 peo­ple were exe­cut­ed in 25 coun­tries around the world in 2008, while 8,864 peo­ple were sen­tenced to death in 52 coun­tries. Amnesty International reports that exe­cu­tions almost dou­bled in num­ber from 1,252 in 2007. Ninety-five per­cent of all known exe­cu­tions were car­ried out in only six coun­tries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Pakistan and Iraq.

2007: In 2007, a min­i­mum of 1,252 peo­ple were exe­cut­ed in 24 coun­tries and at least 3,347 peo­ple were sen­tenced to death in over 50 coun­tries. Just five coun­tries – China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA – car­ried out the over­whelm­ing major­i­ty (88%) of known exe­cu­tions in the world last year. In China exe­cu­tion fig­ures are a state secret mean­ing their total num­ber of exe­cu­tions could be much higher.

2006: In 2006, there were 1,591 exe­cu­tions around the world. Amnesty International report­ed that exe­cu­tions world­wide fell by more than 25% in 2006, down from 2,148 in 2005 to 1,591. Of all known exe­cu­tions that took place in 2006, 91% were car­ried out in six coun­tries: China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan and the United States.

2005: In 2005, there were at least 2,148 exe­cu­tions in 22 coun­tries around the world. China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States were respon­si­ble for 94 per­cent of these known exe­cu­tions. The fol­low­ing coun­tries exe­cut­ed defen­dants in 2005 (fig­ures are only of confirmed executions):

Source: Amnesty International