Death penalty...Public opinion in the US is turning against the death penalty, but China still executes thousands of people every year, a watchdog reports says. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Looking back on 2014, the watchdog group reported 35 executions in seven US states, “the fewest number put to death since 1994.”

Globbally, China by far carried out the most executions, numbering in the thousands, followed by Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States, it said.

US EXONERATES 14-YEAR-OLD BLACK TEEN AFTER EXECUTION

The past year also saw 72 death sentences handed down in the US - a 40-year low and the fourth straight year in which there were fewer than 100 such sentences.

Horrific...Convicted murderer and rapise Clayton Lockett, died of a heart attack after his execution was botched in Oklahoma. It took Lockett 43 minutes to die after he was given an untested mix of lethal injection drugs. Picture: Supplied Source: AP

“Executions and sentences have steadily decreased, as Americans have grown more sceptical of capital punishment,” the group said in a statement.

Botched executions involving lethal injections in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona, and the outcry they provoked, also contributed to the decline, it said.

EXECUTION BOTCHED: KILLER GASPS IN PAIN

LAST-MINUTE: ‘DELUSIONAL KILLER’ PARDONED HOURS BEFORE EXECUTION

Missouri, Texas and Florida represented 80 per cent of executions in 2014, followed by Oklahoma, Georgia, Ohio, Arizona, Alabama and Virginia.

Punishment..a noose hangs demanding death penalty for rapists, as Indians participate in a candlelit vigil protesting violence against women in New Delhi on Tuesday. Picture: AP Source: AP

That was the fewest number of states to carry out executions in 25 years, the centre reported.

The number of inmates on death row, which stood at 3035 on October 1, also fell, continuing a trend going back to 2001.

And seven former death row inmates were exonerated of all charges - the most since 2009.

“Not every year will show declines in every measure, but the overall pattern has been away from the death penalty,” the centre said.

“Even as executions continue, there is growing concern that this sporadic and isolated use of the death penalty serves no compelling purpose.”

Thousands executed...a frame grab taken from Chinese TV shows Gu Kailai, the wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai, as she is sentenced to the death penalty in court in 2012 for the murder of a British businessman. PicturE: AFP PHOTO / CCTV Source: AFP