Which country has abolished the death penalty in 2025?
Asked by: Waylon Bergnaum Jr. | Last update: April 17, 2026Score: 4.2/5 (12 votes)
While no country fully abolished the death penalty within the calendar year 2025 (as it's still January 2026), Zimbabwe made headlines by signing legislation on December 31, 2024, to abolish it for ordinary crimes, making it a significant step into 2025. Other 2025 developments included reduced death sentences in Malaysia, efforts in Kenya to review capital punishment, and Vietnam limiting capital offenses, but Zimbabwe's move was the most definitive abolition step at the time, though it allows for reinstatement in emergencies.
How many countries have abolished the death penalty in 2025?
As of early 2025, approximately 150 countries have either abolished the death penalty entirely or maintain moratoria on executions. Roughly 55 countries still retain and use it. In 2024, global executions surged to their highest levels since 2015, with at least 1,500 known executions worldwide.
What countries abolished the death penalty?
DENMARK abolished the death penalty for all crimes. LUXEMBOURG, NICARAGUA, and NORWAY abolished the death penalty for all crimes. BRAZIL, FIJI, and PERU abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
Is the death penalty legal in the US in 2025?
Yes, the death penalty is legal in the U.S. in 27 states, the federal government, and the military in 2025, though 23 states have abolished it, and some states have moratoriums; its use surged in 2025 with increased federal push under President Trump and significant state activity, despite public opinion trends showing decline in support for new death sentences.
What 5 countries still use the death penalty?
These are China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, the United States, and Yemen. In the United States, this ended in 2005 with the Supreme Court case Roper v. Simmons, in Nigeria in 2015 by law, and in Saudi Arabia in 2020 by royal decree.
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When was the last death penalty in the United States?
The last and most recent federal execution was of Dustin Higgs, who was executed on January 16, 2021. On July 1, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions.
What was Obama's death penalty?
On 17 January 2017, three days before leaving office after eight years in the White House, President Barack Obama commuted one military death sentence and one federal death sentence. The prisoner in each case will now serve life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
What will happen if the death penalty is abolished?
States without the death penalty have lower murder rates than states that still use capital punishment. On Amnesty International's website, 88.2 % of experts in criminology reported they do not think the death penalty deters murder. They also believe that existing research does not support deterrence theory.
What is the average cost of a US execution?
Nationally, the death penalty costs taxpayers an average of $1 million than a life without parole sentence, making it the most expensive part of our criminal justice system on a per offender basis.
Does Russia have a death penalty?
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Russia but is not used due to a moratorium and no death sentences or executions have been carried out since 2 August 1996.
Does Mexico have a death penalty?
Mexico is the world's most populous country to have abolished the death penalty.
Does Canada have the death penalty?
Canada stopped carrying out executions after 1962 and, with some exceptions, had various moratoriums on the death penalty. In 1976, Canada's parliament voted to abolish the death penalty from the Criminal Code.
Has Japan abolished the death penalty?
“As of today, 113 countries worldwide have completely abolished the death penalty in law, and more than 144 have abandoned it in law or practice, yet Japan continues to use this inhuman punishment.
What is the shortest time on death row?
The shortest time on death row for a modern execution in the U.S. belongs to Joe Gonzales, who was executed in Texas after only 252 days (about 8.3 months) in 1996, having waived all appeals to speed up the process. He holds the record for the shortest time in Texas, though historically, some individuals in other eras, like Gary Gilmore, also had very quick executions after conviction.
Does France still have the death penalty?
Today, the death penalty has been abolished in France.
What did Jesus say about the death penalty?
Jesus didn't directly address the state's role in capital punishment but showed mercy and challenged human judgment, notably in John 8:1-11 where he told accusers of an adulterous woman, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her," leading to no execution and showing that imperfect people shouldn't judge or carry out severe punishment, and by emphasizing love, forgiveness, and not retaliating ("turn the other cheek" in Matthew 5:38-39), suggesting a focus on mercy over retribution, though some interpret Romans 13:4 as supporting government authority for punishment.
What is better than the death penalty?
The choice today for prosecutors, jurors, legislators, and the courts is usually between the death penalty and a sentence of life without parole (LWOP). Some victims' families prefer LWOP to the uncertainty of securing a death sentence and the likelihood of many years of appeals before an execution would occur.
How many people on death row have been found innocent?
Since the modern death penalty era began in 1973, over 200 people have been exonerated from death row in the United States, meaning they were wrongfully convicted and later freed, with figures ranging from 200 to 202+ depending on the source and exact date, highlighting a significant risk of error in capital cases where one person is exonerated for roughly every eight executed.
Which state has no death penalty?
Since 2009, seven states — Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Virginia — have legislatively abolished the death penalty, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Did JFK believe in the death penalty?
JFK was an interesting man. Obviously, it seems as though he would have been completely against the concept of the death penalty. Through his signing of laws to his controversial speeches, he wanted it where no one would ever use this on another human.
What president did not pardon anyone?
The two U.S. presidents who never granted a pardon were William Henry Harrison, due to his death just a month into office, and James A. Garfield, who was assassinated early in his term, leaving neither president enough time to issue any.
Why did Texas stop last meals?
Texas abolished special last meals for death row inmates in 2011 after inmate Lawrence Russell Brewer ordered a massive, elaborate meal for his execution and refused to eat any of it, sparking outrage from state officials who deemed the privilege inappropriate and wasteful, leading to the policy change that prisoners now receive standard cafeteria food.
Was the guillotine painless?
The guillotine was designed for swift, supposedly painless death by severing the head, but whether it was truly painless is debated; while it caused rapid unconsciousness from blood loss, historical accounts and experiments suggest the severed head showed signs of sensation like twitching and redness, implying consciousness or pain perception might have lingered briefly after decapitation, making it quick but not necessarily instant or completely free of suffering.
What's the longest someone has stayed on death row?
The longest-serving death row inmate in the world was Iwao Hakamata of Japan, who spent 47 years on death row before being released and later acquitted in 2024, though he was exonerated in 2014 and received compensation for his wrongful imprisonment. In the U.S., Raymond Riles was the longest-serving, with over 45 years on Texas death row before being resentenced to life in prison in 2021 due to mental incompetence.