A shameless minority weaponizing the death penalty to instill fear
In 2025, at least 2,707 people were put to death by their governments — the highest documented toll in forty-four years — with Iran alone accounting for the majority of the surge after more than doubling its executions from the prior year. Amnesty International's accounting reveals not a global consensus on punishment, but the concentrated choices of a small cluster of states, most notably Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, pressing harder against a current that has carried more than seventy percent of the world's nations away from capital punishment entirely. The numbers invite a quiet but urgent question: when a minority of states accelerates toward death as an instrument of order, what does that say about the kind of power they are trying to hold?
- Iran more than doubled its executions in a single year — at least 2,159 people killed by the state — driving a 78% spike in documented global executions and alarming human rights observers worldwide.
- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, and Singapore all posted sharp increases of their own, while Japan, Taiwan, South Sudan, and the UAE resumed executions after periods of abstention, widening the circle of concern.
- China's true toll remains hidden behind state secrecy, meaning the 2,707 figure is almost certainly a significant undercount — the real human cost of 2025 may never be fully known.
- Amnesty International's secretary general called the executing nations a 'shameless minority' using death to suppress dissent and project power over the most vulnerable populations.
- Despite the spike, over 70% of countries have abolished capital punishment in law or practice, framing this surge as the accelerating choices of an increasingly isolated group of states rather than a global reversal.
The world executed at least 2,707 people in 2025 — the highest annual toll since 1981 — according to Amnesty International. The true number is almost certainly larger, as China treats its death penalty statistics as a state secret, placing thousands of additional deaths beyond the reach of any public accounting.
The surge was driven overwhelmingly by Iran, which executed at least 2,159 people, more than double its 2024 total. That single country was the engine behind a 78% jump in documented global executions when China is set aside. Saudi Arabia followed with at least 356 executions, surpassing even its own recent record, fueled in part by an expanding willingness to impose death for drug offenses. The United States executed 47 people, nearly double its pace from 2009.
Several countries — Japan, Taiwan, South Sudan, and the UAE — resumed executions after periods of abstention. Kuwait's executions nearly tripled. Egypt's and Singapore's nearly doubled. Iraq, North Korea, and Vietnam were known to be executing people but provided no reliable figures; Vietnam, like China, classifies the practice as a state secret.
Amnesty International's secretary general described the ten nations responsible for nearly all global executions as a 'shameless minority' using capital punishment to instill fear, suppress dissent, and assert control over marginalized populations. Yet the broader arc of history runs in the opposite direction: more than 70% of countries have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice. The 2025 numbers represent a sharp reversal within a longer trend toward abolition — whether temporary surge or durable shift, only the choices of a small cluster of states will determine.
The world executed at least 2,707 people in 2025. That number, documented by Amnesty International, marks the highest annual toll in forty-four years—since 1981. The actual figure is almost certainly higher. Thousands more are believed to have been put to death in China, but the Chinese government treats its death penalty statistics as a state secret, so no one outside the apparatus knows the true count.
The surge was driven overwhelmingly by one country: Iran. In 2025, Iranian authorities executed at least 2,159 people, more than double the previous year's total. This single nation accounted for the majority of the global increase. When you remove China from the calculation—the great unknown in these tallies—the documented executions worldwide jumped 78 percent from 2024 to 2025, and Iran's doubling was the engine of that rise.
The remaining executions were scattered across sixteen other countries, though the distribution was far from even. Saudi Arabia carried out at least 356 executions, exceeding even its own record from 2024. Yemen executed at least 51 people. The United States executed 47. Egypt, 23. Somalia at least 17. Kuwait, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates each carried out 17, 17, and 3 respectively. Afghanistan, Japan, South Sudan, and Taiwan each executed one person. Several of these nations—Japan, South Sudan, Taiwan, and the UAE—had resumed executions after periods of abstention, contributing to the higher global total.
Some countries showed particularly sharp increases. Kuwait's executions nearly tripled between 2024 and 2025. Egypt's nearly doubled. Singapore's nearly doubled. In the United States, executions have nearly doubled since 2009, a trajectory experts attributed partly to political pressure. Saudi Arabia's rising toll has been fueled by an increasing willingness to impose death sentences for drug-related offenses.
There are countries where Amnesty International found evidence of executions or death sentences but lacked sufficient data to provide reliable numbers: Iraq, North Korea, and Vietnam. Vietnam, like China, classifies its capital punishment practices as a state secret. Belarus, Laos, and North Korea maintain such restrictive reporting that little or nothing is known about their execution activity in 2025.
The pattern is stark. Ten nations—China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Vietnam, Yemen, and the United States—have consistently been responsible for nearly all executions over the past five years. Amnesty International's secretary general, Agnès Callamard, described them as a "shameless minority" willing to weaponize the death penalty to instill fear, suppress dissent, and demonstrate state power over vulnerable and marginalized populations.
Yet the broader global picture tells a different story. As of 2026, more than 70 percent of countries worldwide have abolished capital punishment either in law or in practice. Public opinion in the United States, United Kingdom, and parts of Europe has shifted against the death penalty in recent decades. The countries carrying out executions remain, by Amnesty International's assessment, an isolated minority swimming against a tide of global abolition.
The 2025 spike represents a reversal of that tide, at least temporarily. It reflects decisions made by a small cluster of states to accelerate their use of capital punishment despite international human rights standards and safeguards designed to constrain it. Whether this represents a durable shift or a temporary surge remains to be seen.
Citas Notables
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.— Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International secretary general
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did Iran's executions double so dramatically in a single year?
The report doesn't specify the reasons, but the timing matters. Iran has faced internal unrest and political pressure, and executions often accelerate when governments feel threatened. The doubling suggests a deliberate policy shift, not random variation.
Is 2,707 the real number, or are we looking at a much larger figure?
We're almost certainly looking at a floor, not a ceiling. China alone likely executed thousands more, but the government won't say. Add in the countries where data is simply unavailable—North Korea, Vietnam, parts of the Middle East—and the true global total could be substantially higher.
The U.S. is on this list alongside Iran and North Korea. How should readers understand that?
The U.S. executed 47 people in 2025, which is real and documented. But the scale and context are different. Iran executed 2,159. The U.S. operates within a legal system with appeals and oversight, however imperfect. That said, the U.S. is still one of only ten countries doing this at all, which is the point Amnesty International is making.
What does "weaponizing the death penalty" actually mean in practice?
It means using executions not just as punishment but as a tool of control—to silence dissent, to terrify populations into compliance, to demonstrate state power. When a government suddenly doubles its execution rate, it's often sending a message beyond the courtroom.
If 70 percent of countries have abolished the death penalty, why does this spike matter so much?
Because the countries that haven't abolished it are the ones with the most power and the least restraint. And because a 44-year high suggests the trend toward abolition isn't inevitable. It can reverse.