Amnesty Reports Global Executions Reached Highest Level Since 1981 in 2025

Amnesty International said Monday that at least 2,707 people were executed worldwide in 2025, the highest total since 1981. Iran carried out 2,159 of those executions, more than double the number recorded in 2024. The UK-based rights group described the increase in Iran as staggering and said authorities there intensified use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression after the June 2025 war with Israel.

Amnesty noted that many executions were linked to January protests and membership in banned groups.

Saudi Arabia carried out at least 356 executions last year, surpassing its record of 345 in 2024. Kuwait nearly tripled its total from six to 17, while Egypt nearly doubled its figure from 13 to 23. Yemen rose from at least 38 to at least 51. In the United States, the only country in the Americas to carry out executions in 2025, Florida recorded 19 executions, driving the national total to 47, the highest since 2009.

Singapore carried out 17 executions, its highest number since 2003.

Amnesty said its global total does not include thousands of executions believed to have taken place in China due to state secrecy over death penalty data. The group continues to consider China the world's leading executioner. "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," Amnesty stated.

The organization added that Iran is stepping up executions again in 2026 after January protests and the war against Israel and the United States.