Lists by regime

UN Security Council sanctions lists

Last checked 24 October 2026 · 10 sources

Short answer

The UN Security Council imposes sanctions under Article 41 of the UN Charter ¹. Each of its 15 sanctions regimes is run by a committee chaired by a Council member ². All listed names sit on one Consolidated List, which held 736 individuals and 274 entities when last updated on 15 October 2026 ³. Member states are obliged to apply the measures for each name ³. Delisting requests go to the Ombudsperson for the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida list and to the Focal Point for other lists ⁴.

Legal basis: UN Charter Article 41 ¹
Regimes in force: 15, out of 31 created since 1966 ²
Consolidated List size: 736 individuals and 274 entities, last updated 15 October 2026 ³
Formats: XML, HTML and PDF ³
Ombudsperson cases: 116 petitions accepted, 73 granted and 36 denied, Status of Cases page read 24 October 2026 ⁵
Focal Point requests: 125 received as of 15 May 2026 ⁶

Legal basis and regimes

Article 41 of the UN Charter lets the Security Council decide on measures not involving the use of armed force and call on UN members to apply them. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations ¹. The Council says it has created 31 sanctions regimes since 1966 and that 15 are in force ². Measures range from broad economic and trade sanctions covering whole countries to arms embargoes, travel bans and financial or commodity restrictions ².

The 15 committees cover Al-Shabaab, ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida, Iraq (1518), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, 1636, the DPRK (1718), 1737, Libya, 1988, Guinea-Bissau, Yemen (2140), South Sudan, Haiti (2653) and 2745 ². Ten monitoring groups support 11 of the 15 committees ².

The Consolidated List

The Consolidated List includes all individuals and entities subject to Security Council measures. The UN says putting all names on one list helps implementation but does not mean the names fall under one regime or the same criteria ³. The list is published in XML, HTML and PDF and each new version replaces all earlier ones ³. A press release goes out after every change, in the press section of the committee concerned ³. The search tool is at search.sanctions.un.org ³.

What the measures require

The measures differ by regime. For the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida regime, states must freeze without delay the funds and other financial assets of listed persons, block their entry or transit, and prevent arms supplies to them ⁷. The DPRK committee, set up under resolution 1718 (2006) on 14 October 2006, oversees a regime that adds sector bans, luxury goods limits, vessel controls and financial limits to the asset freeze and travel ban ⁸. Its Panel of Experts had its mandate renewed each year until 30 April 2024 ⁸.

States put the measures into national law. The EEAS says UN Security Council sanctions are automatically transposed into EU law ⁹. Australia says it is obligated to implement UN Security Council sanctions as a matter of international law ¹⁰.

Delisting routes and case numbers

Two routes exist. The Office of the Ombudsperson handles requests to leave the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida list ⁴. Resolution 2734 of 10 June 2024 extended its mandate until June 2027 ⁷. The Focal Point for Delisting, set up under resolution 1730 of 19 December 2006, handles all other lists ⁴. Its procedure has an information-gathering period of four months, a dialogue period of two months and a committee decision period of two months, with possible extensions ⁴.

Route	Measure	Figure	As published
Ombudsperson ⁵	Petitions accepted ⁵	116 ⁵	Status of Cases page read 24 October 2026, latest case started 31 July 2026 ⁵
Ombudsperson ⁵	Granted and denied ⁵	73 granted, 36 denied ⁵	Status of Cases page ⁵
Ombudsperson ⁵	Delisted ⁵	68 individuals, 28 entities ⁵	Status of Cases page ⁵
Focal Point ⁶	Requests received and processed ⁶	125 received, 119 processed ⁶	As of 15 May 2026 ⁶
Focal Point ⁶	Delisted ⁶	20 individuals, 17 entities ⁶	As of 15 May 2026 ⁶

Common questions

How many people are on the UN sanctions list?

The Consolidated List held 736 individuals and 274 entities when last updated on 15 October 2026 ³.

Who applies UN sanctions?

UN member states. They are obliged to implement the measures for each listed name, as set out on each committee's website ³.

Can a person on a UN list ask to be removed?

Yes. Requests about the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida list go to the Ombudsperson. Requests about other lists go to the Focal Point for Delisting ⁴.

Where is the official UN search tool?

The Consolidated List page links to the search at search.sanctions.un.org ³.

Rules and charges change. Check the official source linked on this page before you pay or travel. Spotted an error? Email hello@sanctionslistsexplained.com.

Sources

UN delisting: the Ombudsperson and the Focal Point
How the UN Ombudsperson and Focal Point handle requests to leave UN Security Council sanctions lists, with phases, timelines and case figures.
Sanctions lists compared across regimes
Who keeps each major sanctions list, the legal basis, where to search it and what the official pages say about its legal status.
How delisting from a sanctions list works
How names come off US, UN, EU, UK and Canadian sanctions lists: who decides, the grounds each regime accepts, published timelines and UN case figures.
The EU consolidated sanctions list
How EU sanctions listings are adopted, published, reviewed and challenged, who keeps the EU financial sanctions list and who enforces it.
How to check sanctions status on official tools
The official search tools and files for the UN, US, EU, UK, Canadian and Australian sanctions lists, and how OFAC says to judge a possible match.