Amnesty International says China accounted for the majority of the world's reported executions in 2004.
The London-based human rights group says more than 37-hundred people were executed in 25 countries last year, with at least 34-hundred executions in China alone. But Amnesty says sources in China estimate that nearly 10-thousand people are actually put to death there each year.
Other countries at the top of the list include Iran with 159 reported executions, Vietnam with 64, and the United States with 59.
Amnesty says the true figures are hard to uncover because many countries carry out executions in secret.
The organization says more than 73-hundred people were sentenced to death in 64 countries in 2004.