A brand new report by Amnesty Worldwide has revealed a dramatic rise in executions worldwide in 2025, with the whole variety of documented state executions reaching the best degree in 44 years. The report highlights the central position of Iran, which alone accounted for almost 80% of all recorded executions globally.
In accordance with Amnesty Worldwide, not less than 2,707 executions had been carried out throughout 17 nations in 2025, marking a staggering 78% enhance from the 1,519 executions documented in 2024. Iran was answerable for not less than 2,159 of these executions — greater than double its earlier 12 months’s whole of not less than 972.
Iran’s escalating use of demise penalty
The report states that Iran sharply accelerated executions in the course of the second half of 2025, notably after tensions and hostilities with Israel intensified in June. Amnesty recorded 654 executions between January and June, in contrast with 1,505 executions from July by December.
Human rights observers say the surge displays the Iranian authorities’s growing reliance on capital punishment as a software of political management and intimidation during times of home unrest and regional battle. The report additionally notes that the official figures might underestimate the true scale of executions, as further demise sentences and alleged secret executions might not but have been documented.
Practically half of the executions in Iran had been reportedly linked to drug-related offenses. The report argued that such executions violate worldwide human rights requirements, which limit using the demise penalty to solely the “most severe crimes.”
International developments in capital punishment
Exterior Iran, a number of different nations additionally reported excessive execution totals in 2025. Saudi Arabia recorded not less than 356 executions, surpassing its personal 2024 figures. Yemen carried out not less than 51 executions, whereas the US recorded 47.
Further execution totals included:
* Egypt — 23 executions
* Somalia — 17 executions
* Kuwait — 17 executions
* Singapore — 17 executions
* Afghanistan — 6 executions
* United Arab Emirates — 3 executions
* South Sudan — 1 execution
The report notably excludes China, the place 1000’s of executions are believed to happen yearly. Amnesty Worldwide says the Chinese language authorities continues to deal with demise penalty statistics as state secrets and techniques, making impartial verification unattainable.
