Global executions more than doubled in 2025, reaching their highest recorded level in over 40 years, according to a new report by Amnesty International. The organisation documented at least 2,707 executions across 17 countries, a dramatic rise from 1,518 in 2024, driven by what it described as fear-based governance and repression in a small group of states.
Iran and Saudi Arabia Lead the Surge
Iran was responsible for the overwhelming majority, carrying out at least 2,159 executions—more than double its 2024 total, averaging nearly six executions per day. Saudi Arabia recorded at least 356 executions, many for drug offences. Together, the two countries accounted for 93% of all known executions globally.
China's Hidden Toll and Other Increases
Amnesty said the real global total is likely much higher, as thousands more executions are believed to occur in China, where data remains secret. Other countries with steep increases include Kuwait (from 6 to 17), Egypt (13 to 23), Singapore (9 to 17), and the United States (25 to 47). The US figure was its highest since 2009, with Florida alone carrying out 19 executions, the most in a single year since 1972.
Execution Methods and Drug Offences
Methods included public hangings, beheadings, shootings, lethal injections, and nitrogen gas asphyxiation in the US. At least 17 public executions occurred in Afghanistan and Iran. Nearly half of all known executions (1,257) were for drug-related offences, almost double the previous year, with Iran and Saudi Arabia leading those numbers.
Legislative Moves to Expand or Restore Capital Punishment
Algeria, Kuwait, and the Maldives pursued laws to widen the death penalty for drug crimes. Burkina Faso adopted draft legislation to reintroduce it for high treason, terrorism, and espionage, while Chad established a commission to examine reintroduction. Conversely, Vietnam removed the death penalty for eight offences, and Gambia abolished it for murder and treason.
Regional Trends and Abolition Progress
No executions or death sentences were recorded in Europe or Central Asia. In Sub-Saharan Africa, only Somalia and South Sudan carried out executions. Afghanistan was the sole South Asian country to do so, while in Southeast Asia, only Singapore and Vietnam reported executions. Tonga remains the only Pacific nation with the death penalty on the books.
Amnesty's Call for Abolition
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International Secretary General, stated: "This alarming spike is due to a small, isolated group of states willing to carry out executions at all costs. They are weaponising the death penalty to instil fear, crush dissent, and show state power over disadvantaged people. It's time for executing countries to step into line with the rest of the world." She emphasised that total abolition is possible, noting that when Amnesty launched its anti-death penalty campaign in 1977, only 16 countries had abolished it, a number that has now risen to 113.
Notable progress in 2025 includes clemency granted by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to Rocky Myers, the first Black death row prisoner in the state to receive such relief, and Kyrgyzstan's constitutional court ruling that restoring the death penalty would violate the constitution.
