16 Countries Where Executions Are the Most Common
The morality around executions remains a contentious topic in the United States. However, one thing is certain: We’re among the minority of countries that perform executions.
Statista published data in May 2023 estimating the number of executions in 2022. They worked with the most accurate data they could, but it’s far from perfect. Certain countries keep their execution numbers and practices behind closed doors, leaving the rest of the world guessing what they could be. Furthermore, some countries fail to keep accurate records of the number of executions they carry out.
Nevertheless, the following rankings are Statista’s best guess about the number of executions each country experienced in 2022, starting with the country that has the highest number of executions. We’ve noted special circumstances where they apply, according to Statista’s data.
More to the Picture
Statista didn’t consider Afghanistan, Syria, North Korea, or Vietnam in its rankings. The reason? There aren’t enough known figures from these countries to determine if — or where — they should fall.
State Differences
Executions are legal in only 21 states, including Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Wyoming, and Nevada. An additional six states currently have a pause on executions by executive action. These states include Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, Arizona, Oregon, and California.
Twenty-three states ban executions. Examples of these states include New York, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Washington. By and large, the northeast and northern Midwest states don’t execute felons under any circumstances.
By the Numbers
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in April 2021, 60% of Americans ages 18 years and older are in support of the death penalty for those who’ve been convicted of murder. However, as with many things, two opposite things can be true at the same time.
Although the majority of Americans appear to support the death penalty, the majority also believe that the way executions currently stand in the U.S. isn’t run in a racially neutral way, doesn’t have enough safeguards in place to prevent taking an innocent person’s life, and doesn’t stop people from committing serious crimes.
Religion Speaks
“You shall not murder” is one of the ten commandments in the bible. And based on Pew’s findings, it appears many Christians support convicted felons losing their lives over not following this commandment.
Of the three religion categories that Pew gathered data on (Protestant, Catholic, and religiously unaffiliated), Protestants support the death penalty the most. Whereas 66% of Protestants are in favor of capital punishment, only 58% of Catholics and 55% of religiously unaffiliated Americans do.
Interestingly, of the eight religious sub-categories that Pew Research Center analyzed, atheists have the strongest opposition to the death penalty (34% strongly oppose it). That means atheists oppose capital punishment about as much as Protestants strongly favor it (31% strongly favor it).
On the Rise
According to National Public Radio (NPR), executions have been increasing in the U.S. in recent years. The years 2022 and 2023 both saw increases in the total number of executions; 18 executions occurred in 2022, and as of December 1, 2023, 24 executions were performed.
In contrast, 11 executions in the U.S. happened in 2021. Between 1977 and 2023, Texas performed the most total executions of any other state (586 total since 1977). Oklahoma (123), Virginia (113), and Florida (105) are other states with higher-than-average execution numbers.
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