A shocking new study reveals that 90 percent of the state-sanctioned executions in the world were performed by only three countries last year. Overall in 2015, 1,634 people were executed by 25 countries. This is a 55 percent increase on the 1,061 recorded executions in 2014 and is the highest number recorded since 1989, according to Amnesty International. This increase has been largely driven by a sharp escalation in death sentences handed out by Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. We should note, however, that the reported number in the study excludes China because they reportedly keep their figures a secret.
