The Death Penalty is Still Legal in 87 Countries ☠️

What we’re showing

A global breakdown of the death penalty’s status, using figures from Amnesty International’s 2022 Death Penalty Report (published in May 2023).

Interpreting the numbers

The death penalty is legal in 87 countries, but there is some nuance to this figure:

• 55 allow it for ordinary crimes
• 9 countries only allow it for exceptional crimes (such as war crimes)
• 23 countries retain the death penalty in law, but have not executed anyone in at least 10 years

See the Dataset tab for the entire list of countries under each category.