united states executions, 1930-2008

via the u.s. department of justice, bureau of justice statistics.

thirty-seven u.s. inmates were executed in 2008, the fewest since 1994. nevertheless, 3,220 people remained on death row at year-end 2007. the latter number has also been declining since the mid-1990s, though at a far slower rate than executions. click the figures if you'd like to see the raw data.