Shocking but true: These are the last six developed countries that still have the death penalty

A Tennessee man is poised to become the latest person to be executed this year in the United States - a country that is one of just a handful of IMF-defined “advanced economies” that still have the death penalty.

Execution to end five-year Tennessee hiatus

On Thursday, the convicted murderer Oscar Smith is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection, after Tennessee governor Bill Lee this week refused to grant him a further stay of execution.

“After deliberate consideration of Oscar Franklin Smith’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee,” Lee said in a statement on Tuesday.

Smith’s execution will be the first to be carried out in Tennessee since February 2020.

According to data compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI), Smith will be the 19th person to be executed in the U.S. in 2025.

Which other “advanced economies” have the death penalty?

A country in which 27 out of 50 states have capital punishment, the U.S. is among just six countries referred to by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as “advanced economies” that still have the death penalty. They are:

• Japan
• Israel (exceptional crimes)
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• United States

It should be noted that South Korea has not legally abolished the death penalty and has prison inmates on death row, but has not carried out an execution since 1997. The country has been described as a “de facto abolitionist state”.

Meanwhile, Israel only has the death penalty for exceptional crimes such as genocide, treason and war crimes, notes the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The country has not conducted an execution since 1962.

How does the IMF define “advanced economy”?

The IMF’s list of advanced economies currently includes 41 countries.

The body says its classification of the world’s most developed nations chiefly comes down to three criteria: per-capita income level; export diversification; and degree of integration into the global financial system.

Smith on death row for triple Nashville murder

Smith has been on death row in Tennessee since July 1990, when he was convicted of murdering his estranged wife and her two sons in Nashville, in October 1989.

The 75-year-old, who maintains his innocence, was previously scheduled to be executed in April 2022.

However, he was given a temporary reprieve by Governor Lee, amid question marks over the Tennessee Department of Corrections’ handling of drugs used for lethal injections.

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