Hands Off Cain

DATABASE

The numbers that power does not show.

Death penalty, deaths in prison, preventive measures. The database collects and publishes every number, every name, every date. Updated daily since 1993.

112

ABOLITIONIST IN LAW

31

ABOLITIONIST IN PRACTICE

55

RETENTIONIST

1,547

CONFIRMED EXECUTIONS 2026

Since 1993 Hands Off Cain has recorded, country by country, the executions carried out, the people on death row and the legal status of capital punishment. The data on this page was last updated on September 16, 2026 and can be downloaded in open formats.

This data is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Recommended citation: Hands Off Cain, Database on the death penalty worldwide, https://handsoffcain.info/banca-dati/world (data updated September 16, 2026).

COUNTRY BY COUNTRY

Death penalty in the world.

  • Abolitionist
  • Abolitionist de facto
  • Abolitionist for ordinary crimes
  • Retentionist
  • Moratorium on executions

COUNTRY BY COUNTRY

All countries.

201 COUNTRIES

— HISTORY

Executions in the world, 19992026.

Data aggregated from official sources, local NGOs and independent press. Secret executions (e.g. China) are not included in the count.

DEATH BY PUNISHMENT

Archive of Italian penitentiary institutions

EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE

How this data is collected

The count covers cases documented by public sources: news agencies, national and local newspapers, official statements, human rights organisations, and testimony gathered directly by the association. Every case is verified and attributed to the country where it took place and the year in which it was carried out.

The figures are therefore a documented minimum, not an estimate of the real total. Some states publish no data on executions; in others executions are not even communicated to the families. Where an official figure exists and differs from the one recorded, the difference is set out in that year's annual report.