Death penalty report 2025

In 2025, Amnesty International recorded the highest number of executions carried out globally since 1981. At least 2,707 people were executed in 2025, an increase of more than two-thirds on the total recorded in 2024. The sharp rise was driven primarily by Iran, which recorded its highest number of executions in decades (at least 2,159) and more than doubled the 2024 total.

Despite the record-high execution numbers, figures from 2025 also show the isolation of countries that still implement the death penalty. Although four countries (Japan, South Sudan, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates) executed people in 2025 for the first time after a hiatus, the total number of countries known to have carried out executions remained in line with low yearly totals recorded since 2018 of 20 countries or fewer.

As in previous years, the 2025 total does not include the thousands of executions that Amnesty International believed were carried out in China.

This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2025. As in previous years, information was collected from a variety of sources, official figures, judgments, information from individuals sentenced to death, their families and representatives, media reports, and, as specified, other civil society organisations.

The resort to the death penalty surged in 2025 as the authorities of several countries placed this cruel punishment at the centre of flawed public security and “tough on crime” narratives to assert control, project state power and score political points. This trend was strongest in countries where the authorities have tightened their grip on power by restricting civic space, silencing dissent and displaying disregard for protections established under international human rights law and standards.

The sharp rise was driven primarily by Iran, which recorded its highest number of executions in decades as the Iranian authorities continued to weaponise the death penalty, often after grossly unfair trials, to instil fear among the population.

The resurgence of highly punitive approaches in the global “war on drugs” was also a factor behind the rise in executions in several countries. Nearly half (1,257 or 46%) of all known executions were recorded for drug-related offences, in five countries (China, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Singapore). The authorities of Algeria, Kuwait, and the Maldives also drove legislative efforts to expand the scope of the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

In the USA, the unprecedented rise in executions in one state – Florida – drove the national total to the highest figure since 2009, as officials at the federal level and in some states promoted inflammatory and flawed narratives on the death penalty and its effect on crime, advocating for an increase in its use.

In China and Viet Nam, data on the use of the death penalty is classified as a state secret. During 2025, little or no information was available on some countries – in particular Belarus, Laos and North Korea – due to restrictive state practices.

Therefore, for a significant number of countries, Amnesty International’s figures on the use of the death penalty are the minimum recorded. The true overall figures are likely to be higher.

Despite the record-high execution numbers, figures from 2025 also show the isolation of countries that still implement the death penalty.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally and has been campaigning globally for its abolition since 1977, when only 16 countries were abolitionist for all crimes. By the end of 2025, that figure had risen to 113.