The Countries Sentencing The Most People To Death

According to a report from Amnesty International, 2,466 death sentences were issued by governments across the world last year, up from 1,925 in 2013. That number is likely to be much higher, however, given that China and North Korea were not included in the report as their respective counts could not be confirmed.

Despite the spike in sentencing, actual executions declined 22 percent between 2013 and 2014. Nigeria led the way when it came to issuing death sentences last year, handing down 659. Egypt came second with 509 while Pakistan rounded off the top three with 659. The United States sentenced 72 people to death in 2014, placing it joint seventh with Vietnam.

Just over 19,000 people were on death row throughout the world in 2014. After China, Iran was the world's top executioner, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iraq.