Executions at highest level since 2015, Amnesty International says

The number of state executions around the world has reached its highest level in ten years, a new report by Amnesty International has said.

More than 1,500 recorded executions took place in 2024 with Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia accounting for a combined 1,380 and the United States for 25, the charity found.

Despite this rise, the report also found that the total number of countries carrying out the death penalty stood at 15 – the lowest number on record for the second consecutive year.

Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said the “tide is turning” on capital punishment, adding that “it is only a matter of time until the world is free from the shadow of the gallows”.

While these figures are the highest they have been since 2015 – when at least 1,634 people were subject to the death penalty – the true overall figure is likely to be higher.

Amnesty International says the figure does not include those killed in China, which it believes carries out thousands of executions each year. North Korea and Vietnam are also not included.

Data on the use of the death penalty is classified as a state secret both in China and Vietnam, meaning that the charity has been unable to access statistics.

Other obstacles, such as restrictive state practices or the ongoing crises in Gaza and Syria, meant that little or no information was available for those areas.

The report, entitled Death Sentences and Executions 2024, cited that Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia were responsible for the overall rise in known executions.

Iraq almost quadrupled its executions from at least 16 to at least 63, while Saudi Arabia doubled its yearly total from 172 to at least 345.

Executions in Iran rose from at least 853 in 2023 to at least 972 in 2024.

The report also said that the two main reasons for the spike in the use of capital punishment was down to “countries weaponising the death penalty against protesters” and for “drug-related crimes”.

The charity found that more than 40% of executions in 2024 were carried out for drug-related offences, which it said was unlawful under human rights law.

In 2024, Zimbabwe signed into law a bill that abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes and, since September 2024, the world has seen two cases where death row inmates in Japan and the US have been acquitted and granted clemency respectively.

The charity also said more than two thirds of all UN member states voted in favour of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty last year.