Amnesty International released a report on Monday showing a staggering overall increase in executions worldwide, with the number rising from 1,518 in 2024 to at least 2,707 in 2025, primarily due to a handful of governments determined to rule by fear. Amnesty also highlighted notable increases in countries like the US, Iran, Kuwait, Egypt, and Singapore.
Death Penalty Nearly Doubled in US as Global Figure Hits 44-Year High “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," said Amnesty International 's secretary general Agnès Callamard.of the death penalty on Monday showing that the "staggering" overall increase of executions—up from 1,518 in 2024 to at least 2,707 people—was due "to a handful of governments determined to rule by fear.
" While 17 nations carried out at least one death sentence in 2025, it was significant increases in five of those countries—the United States, Iran,, Kuwait, Egypt, and Singapore—that accounts for the historic spike. With rates in those countries doubling or even tripling compared to the 2024 figures, Amnesty found, executions overall rose by 78% worldwide in 2025. 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 offenses. Executions in Kuwait almost tripled , while they near doubled in Egypt , Singapore , and the United States of America .
Notably, the 2025 total put forth by Amnesty does not include thousands of executions the human rights group believes was carried out in China, which it says likely carries out thousands each year.
“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," said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general. "From China, Iran,, 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.
", who has championed the return of the federal death penalty during both his first and second term in office, the 47 executions took place across 11 states, with the highest number being carried out in Florida, where 19 people were killed. Despite the surge in countries like the US and Iran, Amnesty highlighted that "progress was made elsewhere around the world, proving hope is stronger than fear.
" The report notes that no "executions or death sentences were recorded in Europe and Central Asia" and that the 17th consecutive year, the US remained the "only country in the Americas to execute people, with close to half of all US executions carried out in Florida. "“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 Callamard in her statement.
“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.
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Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we.of the death penalty on Monday showing that the "staggering" overall increase of executions—up from 1,518 in 2024 to at least 2,707 people—was due "to a handful of governments determined to rule by fear.
" While 17 nations carried out at least one death sentence in 2025, it was significant increases in five of those countries—the United States, Iran,, Kuwait, Egypt, and Singapore—that accounts for the historic spike. With rates in those countries doubling or even tripling compared to the 2024 figures, Amnesty found, executions overall rose by 78% worldwide in 2025. 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 offenses. Executions in Kuwait almost tripled , while they near doubled in Egypt , Singapore , and the United States of America .
Notably, the 2025 total put forth by Amnesty does not include thousands of executions the human rights group believes was carried out in China, which it says likely carries out thousands each year.
“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," said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general. "From China, Iran,, 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.
", who has championed the return of the federal death penalty during both his first and second term in office, the 47 executions took place across 11 states, with the highest number being carried out in Florida, where 19 people were killed. Despite the surge in countries like the US and Iran, Amnesty highlighted that "progress was made elsewhere around the world, proving hope is stronger than fear.
" The report notes that no "executions or death sentences were recorded in Europe and Central Asia" and that the 17th consecutive year, the US remained the "only country in the Americas to execute people, with close to half of all US executions carried out in Florida. "“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 Callamard in her statement.
“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.
"of the death penalty on Monday showing that the "staggering" overall increase of executions—up from 1,518 in 2024 to at least 2,707 people—was due "to a handful of governments determined to rule by fear. " While 17 nations carried out at least one death sentence in 2025, it was significant increases in five of those countries—the United States, Iran,, Kuwait, Egypt, and Singapore—that accounts for the historic spike.
With rates in those countries doubling or even tripling compared to the 2024 figures, Amnesty found, executions overall rose by 78% worldwide in 2025. 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 offenses.
Executions in Kuwait almost tripled , while they near doubled in Egypt , Singapore , and the United States of America . Notably, the 2025 total put forth by Amnesty does not include thousands of executions the human rights group believes was carried out in China, which it says likely carries out thousands each year.
“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," said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general. "From China, Iran,, 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.
", who has championed the return of the federal death penalty during both his first and second term in office, the 47 executions took place across 11 states, with the highest number being carried out in Florida, where 19 people were killed. Despite the surge in countries like the US and Iran, Amnesty highlighted that "progress was made elsewhere around the world, proving hope is stronger than fear.
" The report notes that no "executions or death sentences were recorded in Europe and Central Asia" and that the 17th consecutive year, the US remained the "only country in the Americas to execute people, with close to half of all US executions carried out in Florida. "“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 Callamard in her statement.
“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.
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