Only 4 countries execute more people annually than the U.S.

A report from Irish news website, The Journal, reveals that the United States is outpaced by only four countries in the annual count of executions. Those nations are China (an estimated 3,000 executions in 2014), Iran (721 executions), Saudi Arabia (87), and Iraq (60). The U.S. executed a comparatively small total of 35 people last year.

(The Journal)

Only 21 countries used the death penalty in 2014, a figure that is slowly but steadily declining. Methods of execution vary widely among the nations that employ the practice: While the U.S. tends to use lethal injection and the electric chair, other countries still execute by firing squad, hanging, beheading, and even crucifixion.

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