Amnesty International: Global executions reach highest level since 2015
The sharp increase in executions was primarily observed in Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, the London-based human rights NGO emphasized.
In total, 1,518 executions were recorded in 2024, not including the thousands likely carried out in China, which remains the world’s leading executioner, according to the report (p. 6).
Compared to 2023, this marks a 32% increase and represents the highest total since 2015, when 1,634 executions were documented.
Interestingly, for the second consecutive year, only 15 countries carried out executions, the lowest number of executing states ever recorded.
As with China, execution data from North Korea and Vietnam is not included due to a lack of reliable information.
“Although secrecy continues to hinder full reporting in countries likely responsible for thousands of executions, it's clear that states maintaining the death penalty form an isolated minority,” stated Amnesty Secretary General Agnès Callamard in the press release accompanying the report.
Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia Responsible for 91% of Global Executions in 2024
According to Amnesty, these three countries alone accounted for 91% of the recorded executions globally in 2024:
Iran carried out at least 972 executions, up by 119 from the previous year, accounting for 64% of known global executions.
In Saudi Arabia, executions—mostly by beheading—doubled from 172 to at least 345.
In Iraq, the number nearly quadrupled, from at least 16 to 63.
Amnesty specifically accused Iran and Saudi Arabia of using the death penalty as a tool to silence political dissent and intimidate protesters.
Iran, the report noted, executed individuals involved in the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in 2022, including a young man with an intellectual disability.
In Saudi Arabia, the authorities continued to wield capital punishment “as a weapon to suppress political dissent and punish members of the Shiite minority who had taken part in anti-government protests between 2011 and 2013,” Amnesty said.
Rise in Executions in the U.S.
In the United States, 25 people were executed in 2024, one more than in 2023.
More than 40% of the executions worldwide were for drug-related offenses, particularly in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, Amnesty reported.
Such executions, the organization emphasized, violate international law, which limits the death penalty to the “most serious crimes”—a category that does not include drug trafficking.
Global Trend Toward Abolition
As of today, 145 countries have either abolished or stopped using the death penalty, according to Amnesty International.
