Amnesty International has released its annual review of countries using the death penalty, finding that 2018 saw a 31% decline in executions, meaning they reached their lowest level in a decade. Excluding China, 690 people are known to have been executed last year, a noticeable decline on 2017 when 993 people were put to death. The following infographic shows the world's top executioners in 2018 with Iran in second place after China with the lowest estimated number of death sentences carried out 253. Several other countries known for high numbers of executions also experienced noticeable falls including Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia. The United States also saw a minor increase in the number of people it executed between 2017 and 2018.

Source: Forbes April 10, 2019 10:18 UTC