International and American Methods of Execution
According to Amnesty International, 20 countries carried out executions in 2022 and used four methods of execution: beheading, hanging, lethal injection, and shooting.
Within the United States, 18 executions were carried out via lethal injection. Below, find the methods of execution used globally in 2022, as well as which methods of execution are legal in each of the U.S. states and how often each was used between 1977 (when executions resumed after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the death penalty nationally) and 2019.
2022 International Methods of Execution
Beheading
Hanging
Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Myanmar, Singapore, South Sudan, Syria
Lethal Injection
China, United States, Vietnam
Nitrogen Hypoxia
Shooting
Afghanistan, Belarus, China, Kuwait, North Korea, Palestine, Somalia, Yeman
US States Legal Methods of Execution
The U.S. federal government used lethal injection exclusively during the Trump administration, ending a 17-year moratorium on the federal death penalty. The Department of Justice issued a rule in Nov. 2020 allowing federal executions to be carried out “in any manner consistent with [f]ederal law,” including electrocution, lethal gas, and firing squad. As of Sep. 14, 2023, the Biden administration has not executed any prisoners.
Nitrogen hypoxia is a relatively new method of execution and only authorized for use by Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. The method entails a prisoner only inhaling nitrogen, which deprives them of oxygen and causes death. Alabama carried out the nation’s first execution using nitrogen hypoxia on Jan. 25, 2024.
For clarity, we have not included states without the death penalty.
| Lethal Injection | Electrocution | Lethal Gas | Hanging | Firing Squad | Nitrogen Hypoxia |
|---|
| Alabama | primary method | backup | backup | not authorized | not authorized | backup |
| Arizona | primary method | backup | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Arkansas | primary method | backup | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| California* | primary method | not authorized | backup | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Florida | primary method | backup | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Georgia | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Idaho | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | backup | not authorized |
| Indiana | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Kansas | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Kentucky | primary method | backup | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Louisiana | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Mississippi | primary method | backup | backup | not authorized | backup | backup |
| Missouri | primary method | not authorized | backup | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Montana | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Nebraska | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Nevada | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| New Hampshire** | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | backup | not authorized | not authorized |
| North Carolina | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Ohio | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Oklahoma | primary method | backup | backup | not authorized | backup | backup |
| Oregon* | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Pennsylvania* | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| South Carolina | primary method | backup | not authorized | not authorized | backup | not authorized |
| South Dakota | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Tennessee | primary method | backup | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Texas | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
| Utah | primary method | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized | backup | not authorized |
| Wyoming | primary method | not authorized | backup | not authorized | not authorized | not authorized |
*California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania have governor-imposed statewide moratoriums on the death penalty, though the practice remains legal.
**New Hampshire’s abolition of the death penalty was not applied retroactively. One man remains on death row and may be executed.
Number of Executions by Methods of Execution: 1977-2019
| Jurisdiction | All methods | Lethal Injection | Electrocution | Lethal Gas | Hanging | Firing Squad |
|---|
| U.S. Total | 1,529 | 1,349 | 163 | 11 | 3 | 3 |
| Federal | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alabama | 67 | 43 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona | 37 | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 31 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| California | 13 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Colorado | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Connecticut | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Delaware | 16 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Florida | 99 | 55 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia | 76 | 53 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Illinois | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Indiana | 20 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Louisiana | 28 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi | 21 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Missouri | 90 | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montana | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nevada | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Carolina | 43 | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio | 56 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 112 | 112 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oregon | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pennsylvania | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 43 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas | 570 | 570 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Utah | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Virginia | 113 | 82 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Washington | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Amnesty International, “Death Sentences and Executions 2022,” amnesty.org, 2023
Kim Chandler, “Federal Judge Says Alabama Can Conduct Nation’s 1st Execution With Nitrogen Gas; Appeal Planned,” apnews.com, Jan. 10, 2024
Congressional Research Service, “The Federal Death Penalty,” fas.org, Dec. 1, 2020
Idaho Legislature, “House Bill 186,” legislature.idaho.gov (accessed Apr. 3, 2023)
Tracy L. Snell, “Capital Punishment, 2020 –Statistical Tables” bjs.ojp.gov, Dec. 2021
Laurel Wamsley, “With Lethal Injections Harder to Come by, Some States Are Turning to Firing Squads,” npr.org, May 19, 2021
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