Global executions reached a grim peak in 2024, with 1,518 people put to death across 15 countries — the highest number recorded since 2015, according to Amnesty International’s latest annual report released March 31, 2025.
The surge is attributed to an alarming trend: Countries weaponising the death penalty to silence dissent, punish minorities and crack down on drug-related offences in violation of international law.
The report, Death Sentences and Executions 2024, painted a stark picture of how capital punishment is being used not as a tool of justice but as an instrument of fear and control. Leading the spike were three countries in the Middle East — Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq — which collectively accounted for 91 per cent of known executions worldwide.
“The death penalty is an abhorrent crime with no place in today’s world,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. “Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia were responsible for the sharp spike in deaths last year, carrying out over 91 per cent of known executions, violating human rights and callously taking people’s lives for drug-related and terrorism charges.”
Iran alone executed at least 972 people in 2024, a jump of 119 from the previous year. Saudi Arabia’s tally doubled to at least 345, while Iraq’s executions nearly quadrupled, from 16 to 63. Together, these three countries were responsible for 1,380 executions.
The report detailed how Iran continued to use the death penalty to suppress dissent, particularly in the wake of the Woman Life Freedom protests. At least two people were executed last year in connection to the uprising, one of whom was a youth with a mental disability. Both cases reportedly involved unfair trials and torture-tainted confessions.
Saudi Arabia also faced condemnation for executing individuals from the Shi’a minority over anti-government protests dating back more than a decade. One such case was that of Abdulmajeed al-Nimr, initially accused of protest-related offences, but later tried and executed on terrorism charges linked to Al-Qaeda — a move Amnesty says reflects politically motivated prosecution.
The report placed China at the top of the global execution list, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen.
In the United States, executions have risen steadily since the pandemic, the authors noted. In 2024, 25 people were executed, up from 24 the previous year.
Amnesty rejected the narrative used by US President Trump to invoke the death penalty repeatedly — as a tool to protect people “from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters”. His dehumanising remarks promoted a false narrative that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect on crime, the organisation said in a press statement.
A particularly troubling trend flagged by Amnesty is the rising number of executions for drug-related offences — which accounted for over 40 per cent of all executions in 2024. International human rights law restricts the death penalty to the “most serious crimes”, and drug offences do not meet this threshold.
Countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and China continued to impose death sentences for drug crimes, disproportionately affecting people from disadvantaged backgrounds. While Viet Nam is also suspected of carrying out such executions, confirmation remains elusive.
Amnesty also raised concerns about countries like the Maldives, Nigeria and Tonga, which are considering reintroducing capital punishment for drug-related crimes.
Despite the surge in executions, the number of countries carrying them out remained at an all-time low — just 15 for the second year running. A total of 113 countries are now fully abolitionist, and 145 have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
In 2024, Zimbabwe became the latest country to abolish the death penalty for ordinary crimes. The UN General Assembly also passed its 10th resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, with more than two-thirds of member states voting in favour. Meanwhile, Malaysia’s reforms led to over 1,000 people being removed from death row.