The human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has said the number of people executed worldwide last year was 3,800 - the highest figure in a decade.
According to a new report from Amnesty, 90% of them were put to death in China.
The United States executed 59 people in 2004, the fourth highest figure.
The increase is partly due to Amnesty's decision to use the Internet rather than relying on newspaper reports to calculate the number of executions.
