Source: Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand
Executions in 2025 soared to the highest figure recorded by Amnesty International since 1981, with 2,707 people executed across 17 countries, revealed the latest annual report from the human rights organization on the global use of the death penalty.
The staggering rise recorded in the report Death Sentences and Executions 2025, was down to a handful of governments determined to rule by fear. Iranian authorities, the main drivers behind the spike, executed at least 2,159 people, more than double its 2024 figure. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia raised its execution tally to at least 356, using the death penalty extensively for drug-related offences. Executions in Kuwait almost tripled (from 6 to 17), while they near doubled in Egypt (from 13 to 23), Singapore (from 9 to 17), and the United States of America (from 25 to 47). Overall, executions rose by 78%, after at least 1,518 executions were recorded in 2024. The 2025 total does not include the thousands of executions that Amnesty International believes continued to be carried out in China, which remained the world’s lead executioner.
“This alarming spike in the use of the death penalty is due to a small, isolated group of states willing to carry out executions at all costs, despite the continued global trend towards abolition. From China, Iran, North Korea and Saudi Arabia to Yemen, Kuwait, Singapore and the USA, this shameless minority are weaponizing the death penalty to instil fear, crush dissent and show the strength state institutions have over disadvantaged people and marginalized communities,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
The resurgence of highly punitive approaches in the “war on drugs” drove efforts to expand the use of the death penalty. This was reflected in the number of executions, with close to half (1,257 or 46%) of all known executions recorded for drug-related offences: in China (+), Iran (998), Kuwait (2), Saudi Arabia (240) and Singapore (15). Algeria, Kuwait, and the Maldives made legislative efforts to expand the scope of the death penalty to include drug-related offences.
The government of Burkina Faso adopted a draft bill that included reinstating the death penalty for offences such as “high treason,” “terrorism,” and “acts of espionage”, while the authorities in Chad established a commission to review matters related to the death penalty – including its reinstatement.
Executions carried out by handful of countries
While executions surged, executing countries remain an isolated minority. China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, USA, Viet Nam and Yemen are the same 10 countries known to have carried out executions every year in the last five years and that have consistently shown disregard for safeguards established under international human rights law and standards.
Four countries resumed executions last year (Japan, South Sudan, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates), bringing the total number of executing countries to 17.
Progress was made elsewhere around the world, proving hope is stronger than fear.
No executions or death sentences were recorded in Europe and Central Asia. For the 17th consecutive year, the USA was the only country in the Americas to execute people, with close to half of all US executions carried out in Florida. Executions in Sub-Saharan Africa were confined to Somalia and South Sudan. Afghanistan was the only country in South Asia to pursue executions; Singapore and Viet Nam were the only countries known to do so in Southeast Asia. Tonga was the only country in the Pacific to retain the death penalty in law.
“It’s time for executing countries to step into line with the rest of the world and leave this abhorrent practice in the past. The death penalty does not make us safer. Rather, it is an irreversible affront against humanity that’s driven by fear, with utter disregard for international human rights law,” said Agnès Callamard.
The flame of abolition continues to burn
When Amnesty International started its work against the death penalty in 1977, only 16 countries had abolished it. Today, that number has risen to 113 – more than half the world’s countries, while more than two-thirds are abolitionist in law or practice.
Against a backdrop of predatory behaviours, fear and hate, some countries took steps demonstrating that, with continued pressure and determination, global abolition is within reach. Authorities in Vietnam abolished the death penalty for eight offences, including drug transportation, bribery, and embezzlement, while Gambia abolished the death penalty for murder, treason and other offences against the state. In a historic move, the Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, granted clemency to Rocky Myers – the first clemency granted to a Black person on death row in the state.
In Lebanon and Nigeria, bills were introduced to abolish the death penalty, while the Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan declared attempts to reintroduce the death penalty as unconstitutional.
“With human rights under threat around the world, millions of people continue to fight against the death penalty each year in a powerful demonstration of our shared humanity,” said Agnès Callamard. “Total abolition is possible if we all stand strong against the isolated few. We must keep the flame of abolition burning bright until the world is entirely free from the shadows of the gallows.”