The Death penalty in 2016: Facts and figures
At least 1,032 people were executed in 23 countries in 2016. In 2015 Amnesty International recorded 1,634 executions in 25 countries worldwide — a historical spike unmatched since 1989.
Most executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan — in that order.
For the first time since 2006, the USA was not one of the five biggest executioners, falling to seventh behind Egypt. The 20 executions in the USA was the lowest in the country since 1991.
During 2016, 23 countries, about one in eight of all countries worldwide, are known to have carried out executions. This number has decreased significantly from twenty years ago (40 countries carried out executions in 1997). Belarus, Botswana, Nigeria and authorities within the State of Palestine resumed executions in 2016; Chad, India, Jordan, Oman and United Arab Emirates -all countries that executed people in 2015 − did not report any executions last year.
Photo: Amnesty International
