Amnesty International has reported a major increase in executions globally, with last year having the highest number recorded since 1981, and the Asia-Pacific region accounting for the highest number of executions by far, despite China and other regional countries concealing their records.
- Amnesty International recorded the highest number of executions globally since 1981
- China remained the world’s leading executioner, though data remains hidden
- Iran executed at least 2,159 people, more than double its 2024 total
- Executions resumed in Japan, Taiwan and the UAE after hiatus
- Singapore nearly doubled executions compared to 2024
- Saudi Arabia carried out at least 356 executions
Worldwide, at least 2,707 executions were carried out across 17 countries in 2025, according to Amnesty’s latest report, Death Sentences and Executions 2025. This represents an increase of 78% (1189 executions) compared to the previous year, and more than double the number two years ago – there were 1,153 known executions in 2023.
Iranian authorities were the main drivers behind the spike. They executed at least 2,159 people, more than double its 2024 figure of at least 972, accounting for 80% of all recorded executions.
However, Amnesty International continues to consider China the world’s leading executioner, with thousands of people believed to have been sentenced to death and executed each year. The actual extent of its use of the death penalty remains unknown, as data remains classified as a state secret. The global total also excludes a significant number of executions believed to have been carried out in North Korea and Viet Nam.
Despite a global context where the international human rights system was under unprecedented and existential threats, progress towards abolition continued. Viet Nam abolished the death penalty for eight offences, including drug transportation, bribery and embezzlement, while more than two-thirds of countries worldwide are now abolitionist in law or practice.
While executions surged, the countries carrying out executions remain an isolated minority. Ten of the 17 countries who carried out executions in 2025 – 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.
Four countries resumed executions in 2025: Japan, South Sudan, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia raised its execution tally to at least 356, while executions in Kuwait almost tripled (from 6 to 17), near doubled in Egypt (from 13 to 23), rising in 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.
Drug-related offences remained a major driver of executions, accounting for nearly half of all known executions globally. Amnesty recorded drug-related executions in China, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, while several countries moved to expand the death penalty for drug offences.
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.
“The 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.”
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General
“The 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 weaponising the death penalty to instil fear, crush dissent and show the strength state institutions have over disadvantaged people and marginalised communities,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“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.”
“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.”
Agnès Callamard
The Asia-Pacific region sadly makes a dominant contribution to the world’s use of the death penalty, with some of Australia’s regional neighbours, particularly China, Viet Nam, North Korea and Singapore making up a large part of the total global executions.
We welcome Malaysia’s recent establishment of a working group to consider the abolition of the death penalty, and the Australian Government’s continued advocacy for the global abolition of capital punishment. So much more must be done to stop the thousands of executions in our region, the vast majority of which are hidden from scrutiny.
Background
This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty from January to December 2025. As in previous years, Amnesty International collected information from a range of sources, including official figures, court judgments, individuals sentenced to death, their families and representatives, media reports, and civil society organisations.
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