While 145 countries have abolished the death penalty, nations like Iran, Saudi Arabia, the US, and India still retain it. As France honors Robert Badinter, who ended capital punishment in 1981, the global debate on life and death continues.
Even as most of the world has turned its back on capital punishment, some countries continue to enforce it — and 2024 proved to be a particularly deadly year. According to Amnesty International, executions worldwide jumped dramatically, painting a stark contrast between nations that have moved on and those still clinging to the ultimate punishment.
As France prepares to honour Robert Badinter, the former justice minister who ended capital punishment in 1981, by moving him to the Pantheon, it’s worth remembering just how differently the rest of the world treats the question of life and death.
Where Does India Stand
India occupies a complex position in this global landscape. At the end of 2024, 564 prisoners were living under a sentence of death — the highest number in nearly two decades, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Trial courts imposed 139 new death sentences during the year, up from 120 in 2023.
Recent legislative changes have further shaped the landscape. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, replacing the Indian Penal Code, introduces new death-eligible offences such as organized crime, terrorist acts, and murder committed by life convicts. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, replacing the Criminal Procedure Code, provides mechanisms to process mercy petitions filed by death row prisoners.
India’s stance on the global stage has also been assertive. In November 2024, the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly passed a draft resolution calling for a global moratorium on the death penalty, with 131 countries voting in favour. India, however, voted against the resolution, joining 35 other nations, while 21 abstained.
Most Countries Have Stepped Away
By the end of 2024, 145 countries had abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Among them, 122 countries banned it by law — 113 for all crimes and nine for ordinary crimes only. An additional 23 nations haven’t executed anyone in over a decade, effectively making them abolitionist.
Europe has largely turned the page on capital punishment, with Belarus the only European country that still allows it, although it conducted no executions in 2024 or the first nine months of 2025. In Africa, Zimbabwe officially scrapped the death penalty but retains it during public emergencies, while Kenya commuted all 2,747 death sentences to life imprisonment.
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America’s Patchwork Justice
In the United States, the picture is mixed. Capital punishment is legal in 27 states, but 23 have banned it outright. California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania are in temporary moratoriums. In 2024, 25 people were executed — 24 by lethal injection, one by nitrogen gas suffocation, a method the United Nations has compared to torture.
So far in 2025, 34 executions have already been carried out, including 13 in Florida alone — the highest number in a decade. Another nine are scheduled before the year ends. For some Americans, the debate over justice versus cruelty continues to rage.
Global Executions Climb
The spike in executions worldwide is alarming. Amnesty reports at least 1,518 people were put to death in 2024, a 32 percent increase over previous years. Methods included beheadings, hanging, shootings, lethal injections, and nitrogen gas asphyxiation.
Countries with the highest reported rates include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the US, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Singapore, Somalia, and Yemen. China, North Korea, Syria, Afghanistan, and Vietnam remain largely secretive, but estimates suggest China likely leads by thousands.
Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq Drive the Surge
Three countries accounted for the bulk of the increase last year:
- Iran executed 972 people, making up 64 percent of the global total — a 14 percent jump from 2023.
- Saudi Arabia, infamous for its public beheadings, executed 345 people — double 2023’s total.
- Iraq carried out 63 executions.
Even Japan made headlines with its first execution since July 2022, a reminder that rare or infrequent use of the death penalty is still very real in some parts of the world.