China executed 2,400 people last year according to a human rights group – more than triple the rest of the world combined.

Dui Hua, who have offices in Hong Kong and San Francisco say their estimate is based on data published in Southern Weekly, one of the biggest newspapers in China, that is “consistent with information provided to Dui Hua by a judicial official earlier this year”.

“China currently executes more people every year than the rest of the world combined, but it has executed far fewer people since the power of final review of death sentences was returned to the SPC in 2007,” a spokesperson added.

“Since then, the number of executions nationwide may have dropped by more than a third.”

Death by shooting or lethal injection can be used as the punishment for 55 offences, including “counter-revolutionary crimes”, treason, embezzlement, drug smuggling, money counterfeiting, rape and murder.

Dui Hua’s figure is more than three times Amnesty International’s estimate of 778 international executions in 2013, which excluded China.

Amnesty also estimated “thousands” of people were killed in the Communist state, which keeps the figures secret.

Their research showed Iran had executed 369 people in the year, Iraq 169 and Saudi Arabia at least 79 people.

A spokesperson said that despite the global trend towards abolishing the death penalty, executions were up by almost 15 per cent compared to 2012 because of “an increasingly isolated group of entrenched executioners,” including the countries above.