Africa Of the 54 UN member states located within Africa, 24 have fully abolished capital punishment, 4 retain capital punishment only in extraordinary circumstances (such as for treason, military offences, or offences committed during wartime), 21 retain capital punishment but have not used it in at least ten years, and 5 actively retain capital punishment. In 2018,
Burkina Faso abolished capital punishment for ordinary (non-state) crimes, and
Gambia announced a moratorium as a first step towards abolition.
Sierra Leone fully abolished capital punishment in 2021, as did the
Central African Republic in 2022, followed by
Zambia in 2023.
Americas Of the 35 UN member states located within the Americas, 16 have fully abolished capital punishment, 5 retain capital punishment only in extraordinary circumstances (such as for treason, military offences, or offences committed during wartime), 13 retain capital punishment but have not used it in at least ten years, and 1 actively retains capital punishment. Since 2008, the
United States has been the only country in the Americas (and therefore also North America) to carry out executions. Capital punishment is legal in the federal government, military, 27 states (of which only 16 are considered retentionists; 7 are under moratoria and 4 are abolitionists-in-practice with no executions in over ten years), and 1 territory (
American Samoa; considered an abolitionist-in-practice with no executions since 1939).
Canada and
Mexico have both fully abolished capital punishment. In the
Caribbean, capital punishment has only been fully abolished by the Dominican Republic and Haiti (1969 and 1987, respectively). All other Caribbean countries are considered abolitionists-in-practice. In Central and South America, capital punishment has mostly been fully abolished, with the exceptions of
Guatemala,
El Salvador,
Brazil,
Peru, and
Chile, which retain capital punishment in extraordinary circumstances (generally being for treason, military crimes, or crimes during wartime), and
Belize and
Guyana, which are both considered abolitionists-in-practice.
Asia Of the 47 UN member states and 1 UN observer state located within Asia, 15 have fully abolished capital punishment, 1 retains capital punishment only in extraordinary circumstances (such as for treason, military offences, or offences committed during wartime), 9 retain capital punishment but have not used it in at least ten years, and 23 actively retain capital punishment.
China is the world's most prolific executioner; according to Amnesty International, China executes more people than the rest of the world combined each year, but this does not apply in
Hong Kong and
Macau, since both
special administrative regions have abolished capital punishment.
India occasionally executes criminals, carrying out just 30 executions from 1991 to 2020. India most recently executed 4 perpetrators of a
gang rape and murder case in March 2020.
Japan sometimes executes criminals, carrying out 134 executions since 1993. Japan most recently executed
Takahiro Shiraishi in June 2025. According to a 2017 report by the National Human Rights Commission from
Burma, over 700 prisoners had their 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.
Indonesia occasionally executes prisoners, and while it has rarely done so in cases of murder, Indonesia has some of the most stringent narcotics laws in the world, so it is often used for drug traffickers. In June 2025, a trial for three
British citizens, following a deal to trade approximately one kilogram of
cocaine, sees the accused potentially facing capital punishment.
Europe Of the 43 UN member states and 1 UN observer state located within Europe, 42 have fully abolished capital punishment, 0 retain capital punishment only in extraordinary circumstances (such as for treason, military offences, or offences committed during wartime), 1 retains capital punishment but has not used it in at least ten years, and 1 actively retains capital punishment. The
European Union holds a strong position against capital punishment; its abolition is a key objective for the Union's human rights policy. Abolition is a pre-condition for membership in 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 capital punishment 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 later reintroduced from 1936 to 1990 during the dictatorial and communist eras; in
Italy the nationwide ban on capital punishment dates from 1889 (it 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. The last execution in the
United Kingdom took place in
England in 1964, but the last sentence was passed nine years later; it was abolished for murder in 1965 and for the remaining offences in 1998. In 2012,
Latvia became the most recent European country to abolish capital punishment.
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 executions on Russian territory were carried out in 1999 in Chechnya, "which de facto was not then under control of the Russian Federation". 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 capital punishment.
Oceania Of the 14 UN member states located within Oceania, 13 have fully abolished capital punishment, 0 retain capital punishment only in extraordinary circumstances (such as for treason, military offences, or offences committed during wartime), 1 retains capital punishment but has not used it in at least ten years, and 0 actively retain capital punishment. The last UN member state that has not yet fully abolished capital punishment is
Tonga, which has not used it since 1982 and is therefore an abolitionist-in-practice.
Human Development Index There are 73 sovereign states with a very high human development according to the 2023
Human Development Index list. Of these: • 11 (15.07 %) actively retain capital punishment:
Bahrain,
Belarus,
Japan,
Kuwait,
Malaysia,
Oman,
Qatar,
Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, the
United Arab Emirates, and the
United States. • 8 (10.96 %) permit its use, but have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions:
Antigua and Barbuda, the
Bahamas,
Barbados,
Brunei,
Russia,
Saint Kitts and Nevis,
South Korea, and
Trinidad and Tobago. • 2 (2.74 %) have abolished it for all crimes except those committed under exceptional circumstances (such as during war):
Chile and
Israel. • 52 (71.23 %) have completely abolished it:
Albania,
Andorra,
Argentina,
Armenia,
Australia,
Austria,
Belgium,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Bulgaria,
Canada,
Costa Rica,
Croatia,
Cyprus,
Czechia,
Denmark,
Estonia,
Finland,
France,
Georgia,
Germany,
Greece,
Hungary,
Iceland,
Ireland,
Italy,
Kazakhstan,
Latvia,
Liechtenstein,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Macedonia,
Malta,
Mauritius,
Montenegro, the
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Panama,
Poland,
Portugal,
Romania,
San Marino,
Serbia,
Seychelles,
Slovakia,
Slovenia,
Spain,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
Turkey, the
United Kingdom, and
Uruguay. Singapore has both the highest
Human Development Index and
planetary pressures–adjusted HDI of all the countries that retain capital punishment, while the United Arab Emirates has the highest
inequality-adjusted HDI.
Advanced economies As of 2022, 33 of the 37 UN member states that are classified by the
IMF as advanced economies have fully abolished capital punishment. The United States, Japan, and Singapore actively retain capital punishment and Israel retains capital punishment crimes only in extraordinary circumstances (such as for treason, military offences, or offences committed during wartime).
Executions in 2024 Fifteen UN member states were recorded to have performed executions in 2024: •
Americas (1 country): United States (25) •
Asia (12 countries): China (1 000s), Iran (972+), Saudi Arabia (345+), Iraq (63+), Yemen (38+), Singapore (9), Kuwait (6), Oman (3), Afghanistan (unknown), North Korea (unknown), Syria (unknown), Vietnam (unknown) •
Africa (2 countries): Somalia (34+), Egypt (13) Precise numbers are unavailable for some countries, so the total number of executions is unknown. ==Capital punishment by continent==