Whaling worldwide - number of whales killed 1985-2022

After the commercial ban on whaling was introduced in 1986 due to overexploitation of the resources, the number of whales killed sank dramatically. Today, there are only three countries left in the world that hunt whales for commercial purposes; Norway, Japan, and Iceland, and the latter have signaled that it will abandon commercial whaling within 2024. Moreover, whaling is allowed for aboriginal reasons in Denmark (Faroe Islands and Greenland), Russia (Siberia), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Bequia Island), and the United States (Alaska). Even though the commercial ban has succeeded in stabilizing the whale population, it remains a highly controversial practice due to the hunting methods, in which some whales are alive for several minutes after being hit by a harpoon. In 2022, 1,364 whales were killed worldwide, of which 999 were for commercial purposes.