Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as a punishment for a crime. It has historically been used in almost every part of the world. Since the mid-19th century many countries have abolished or discontinued the practice. In, the five countries that executed the most people were, in descending order, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United States. The 193 United Nations member states and two observer states fall into four categories based on their use of capital punishment. : In addition, Cook Islands, Niue, and Kosovo are abolitionist whereas Taiwan is retentionist. Since 1990, at least 11 countries have executed offenders who were minors (under the age of 18 or 21) at the time the crime was committed, which is a breach of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by all countries but the United States. These are China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, the United States, and Yemen. In the United States, this ended in 2005 with the Supreme Court case Roper v. Simmons, in Nigeria in 2015 by law, and in Saudi Arabia in 2020 by royal decree.

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Global overview

Africa

In Africa, many countries maintain the death penalty in law. Some such countries, such as Algeria and Cameroon, have moratoriums and have not used it for over a decade, making them abolitionist in practice. In Nigeria, some states are de facto abolitionist while others are retentionist. In 2018, Burkina Faso repealed the death penalty for civilian crimes, and the Gambia announced a moratorium as a first step towards abolition. Sierra Leone abolished capital punishment in 2021, as did the Central African Republic in 2022. For civilian crimes, Equatorial Guinea and Zambia abolished it in 2022, and Ghana did so in 2023.

Americas

In Caribbean countries, the death penalty exists at least de jure, except in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which abolished it in 1969 and 1987, respectively. Grenada is abolitionist in practice; its last execution was in 1978. The last execution in the Caribbean, and the last in the Americas outside the United States, was in Saint Kitts and Nevis, in 2008. In Central and South America, the death penalty exists in Belize and Guyana, though it has not been used since 1985 and 1997. In Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Peru, executions are legal in some circumstances, such as war crimes, and were abolished for civil crimes. In 1976, Canada abolished the death penalty for non-military offences; in 1999, it abolished it for military offences. In 2005, Mexico abolished the death penalty; in 2009 Argentina abolished it.

Asia

China is the world's most active user of the death penalty; according to Amnesty International, China executes more people than the rest of the world combined, each year; but the death penalty for all crimes do not apply to the two special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macau. In December 2015, Mongolia repealed the death penalty for all crimes. India rarely executes criminals, carrying out just 30 executions since 1991. India most recently executed 4 perpetrators of a gang rape and murder case in March 2020. Japan sometimes executes criminals, carrying out 130 executions since 1993. Japan most recently executed Tomohiro Katō in July 2022. According to a 2017 report by the National Human Rights Commission from Myanmar, over 700 prisoners in 26 prisons across the country had death sentences commuted to life imprisonment. Singapore resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year moratorium due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Singapore came under scrutiny for executing drug traffickers in several high-profile cases, including Nagaenthran Dharmalingam who was hanged in April 2022, and Tangaraju Suppiah who was hanged in April 2023. In July 2023, a convicted drug trafficker named Saridewi binte Djamani was executed, becoming the first female offender hanged in Singapore in 19 years, after the 2004 hanging of Yen May Woen. Singapore's first execution for murder since 2019 was carried out in February 2024, when Bangladeshi painter Ahmed Salim was hanged for murdering his ex-girlfriend in 2018.

Europe

The European Union holds a strong position against the death penalty; its abolition is a key objective for the Union's human rights policy. Abolition is also a pre-condition for entry into the European Union. In Europe, only Belarus continues to actively use capital punishment. Capital punishment has been completely abolished in all European countries except for Belarus and Russia, the latter of which has a moratorium and has not conducted an execution since 1996. The absolute ban on the death penalty is enshrined in both the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EU) and two widely adopted protocols of the European Convention on Human Rights of the Council of Europe, and is thus considered a central value. Of all present European countries, San Marino, Portugal and the Netherlands were the first to abolish capital punishment; Romania banned it even earlier in 1864, but it was much later reintroduced from 1936 to 1990 during the dictatorial and communist eras; in Italy the nationwide ban on the death penalty dates from 1889 (capital punishment had previously not been in force in Tuscany alone since 1859, and even earlier for short periods starting from 1786), but it was then reintroduced during the fascist regime; now only Belarus still uses capital punishment. In 2012, Latvia became the last EU member state to abolish capital punishment in wartime.

Post-Soviet states

Russia retains the death penalty in law, but there has been a moratorium since 1996, making it de facto abolitionist. The last execution on Russian territory was in Chechnya in 1999. Of the other former Soviet republics, only Belarus and Tajikistan have not formally abolished capital punishment, and only Belarus uses it in practice. In 2000, Ukraine abolished the death penalty completely (in peace and wartime), as did Kazakhstan in June 2022.

Oceania

The Kingdom of Tahiti (when the island was independent) was the first legislative assembly in the world to abolish the death penalty in 1824. Tahiti commuted the death penalty to banishment. Nearly all countries in this region have abolished the death penalty as a form of punishment, and the last country that still has it in law (Tonga) has not used it since 1982 and is considered de facto abolitionist. Australia abolished the death penalty completely in 1985.

Human Development Index

There are 65 sovereign states with a very high human development according to the 2021/2022 Human Development Report. Of these: Singapore has the highest Human Development Index of all the countries that use the death penalty, while Japan has both the highest inequality-adjusted HDI and the highest planetary pressures–adjusted HDI.

Developed countries

As of 2022, 36 of the 40 countries and territories that are classified by the IMF as developed countries (advanced economies), including China's Special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau have completely abolished the death penalty. Only the United States, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes, and Israel for crimes under exceptional circumstances (such as during war).

Numbers executed in 2022

At least 21 countries performed executions in : Precise numbers are unavailable for some countries, so the total number of executions is unknown. Other countries, like Myanmar and Libya, have conducted extrajudicial executions.

Capital punishment by continents

Africa

There are 54 United Nations member states in Africa. Of these: Many African countries have carried out no executions for over 10 years, but are not believed to have an abolitionist policy or established practice. Nigeria is only retentionist in the northern states that use sharia law, and in some southern states such as Imo. Many southern states are abolitionist in practice due to a moratorium that has been in place since 2004. The countries in Africa that most recently abolished the death penalty are Ghana (2023), Zambia (2022) and Equatorial Guinea (2022) for ordinary crimes, Zimbabwe (2024), Central African Republic (2022) and Sierra Leone (2021) for all crimes. Executions in Africa in 2019: Botswana (1), Egypt (29+), Somalia (13+), South Sudan (7+).

Americas

There are 35 United Nations member states in the Americas. Of these: Many Caribbean countries have carried out no executions for over 10 years, but are not believed to have an abolitionist policy or established practice. As of 2024, the United States is the only country in the Americas to conduct executions for civil purposes. Capital punishment applies nationwide on the federal level, for certain federal crimes. However, most capital crimes are prosecuted at the state level. Twenty-three of the fifty states and the federal district have abolished capital punishment entirely. Two states are abolitionist in practice. Five states have imposed formal moratoriums and one state has imposed an informal moratorium, but these states cannot be considered abolitionist in practice, as the moratoriums have been in place for under a decade. Outside of the United States, the last execution elsewhere in the Americas was in Saint Kitts and Nevis in 2008. The countries in the Americas that most recently abolished the death penalty are Suriname (2015), Argentina (2009), and Bolivia (2009). Guatemala abolished the death penalty for civil cases in 2017. Executions in the Americas in 2019: United States (22).

Asia

There are 42 United Nations member states in Asia, and one observer state. Of these: The information above does not include Taiwan, which is not a UN member. Taiwan practices the death penalty by shooting, and conducted one execution each in 2016, 2018, and 2020. Hong Kong and Macau are listed below (they abolished the death penalty before their handover to China), but they are not included in the figures above as they do not have UN membership separate from China. This makes China retentionist only in the mainland. On 25 July 2022, because of Myanmar's civil war between the military junta (who rule most areas of the country) and the civilian government it overthrew, the junta carried out executions making them the first executions since 1988, making the country retentionist in areas controlled by the Tatmadaw. Under the civilian government (who internationally and according to the UN remain the legal government) and in areas controlled by it the country continues to be abolitionist in practice. Iraq also has a regional variety of retentionism and abolitionism, as Iraqi Kurdistan is de facto abolitionist for ordinary crimes due to a moratorium that has been in place since 2007. The rest of Iraq (the majority of the country) is fully retentionist. Indonesia has an informal moratorium and Malaysia a formal one, both in place since 2018. In April 2023, legislation abolishing the mandatory death penalty was passed in Malaysia. The countries in Asia that most recently abolished the death penalty are Kazakhstan (2021), Mongolia (2017), and Uzbekistan (2008). In 2019, Asia had the world's five leading practitioners of capital punishment: China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. Executions in Asia in 2019: Bahrain (3), Bangladesh (2), China (1000+), Iran (256+), Japan (3), North Korea (Unknown), Pakistan (20+), Saudi Arabia (184+), Singapore (4), Syria (Unknown), Vietnam (Unknown), Yemen (7+).

Europe

There are 48 United Nations member states in Europe, and one observer state. Of these: Abolition of death penalty is a pre-condition for entry into the European Union, which considers capital punishment a "cruel and inhuman" practice and "not been shown in any way to act as a deterrent to crime". Since 1999, Belarus has been the only recognized country in Europe to carry out executions. 2009, 2015, 2020 are the first three years in recorded history when Europe was completely free of executions. The countries in Europe that most recently abolished the death penalty are Bosnia and Herzegovina (2019), Latvia (2012), and Albania (2007). Executions in Europe in 2019: Belarus (2+).

Oceania

There are 14 member states of the United Nations in Oceania. Of these: Only Tonga has not formally abolished capital punishment despite not using the practice since 1982. The countries in Oceania that most recently abolished the death penalty are Papua New Guinea (2022), Nauru (2016), and Fiji (2015).

Abolition chronology

The table below lists in chronological order the 109 UN member or observer states that have completely abolished the death penalty. In the century after the abolition of capital punishment by Venezuela in 1863, only 11 more countries followed, not counting temporary abolitions that were later reversed. From the 1960s onwards, abolition accelerated: 4 countries abolished capital punishment in the 1960s (a record up to that time for any decade), 11 in the 1970s, and 10 in the 1980s. After the Cold War, many more countries followed: 36 countries abolished capital punishment in the 1990s, with 9 in 1990 alone, 23 in the 2000s, 11 in the 2010s, and 7 so far in the 2020s. Since 1985, there have been only 6 years when no country has abolished the death penalty: 2001, 2003, 2011, 2013, 2018 and 2023. When a country has abolished, re-instated, and abolished again (e.g. Philippines, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy) only the later abolition date is included. Countries which have abolished and since reinstated it and have yet to abolish it again (e.g. Liberia, Malawi) are excluded altogether. Dependent territories are considered being under the jurisdiction of their parent country – which leads to unexpectedly late abolition dates for the UK, New Zealand and the Netherlands, where Jersey (UK), the Cook Is (NZ), and the Netherlands Antilles, were the last territories of those states to abolish capital punishment, and all were later than the abolitions on the respective mainlands. References are in the continental tables above and not repeated here. Federal countries such as the United States where it has not been abolished everywhere do not appear, even if some jurisdictions in that country have abolished the death penalty.

[Abolition over time

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Footnotes