Those numbers are a severe undercount, warns AI, as China is reported to carry out thousands of executions every year but does not publicly release figures – data is also unavailable for Vietnam and North Korea.
Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq account for 91% of the confirmed executions carried out globally, largely targeting political dissidents, ethnic and sexual minorities amid crackdowns on opposition leaders. While they carry out much fewer executions, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia hold thousands of convicts on death row for drug-related offenses, while Nigeria, Tonga and the Maldives are considering extending their use of capital punishment to drug offenders.
While the number of executions has sharply increased in recent years, it should be noted that fewer and fewer countries apply capital punishment: in 2024, Zimbabwe became the 110th sovereign state to completely abolish the death penalty, while an additional 21 countries maintain moratoriums on executions.
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Executions carried out across the world in 2024 have topped 1,500, their highest figure since 2015, amid a sharp increase in political and drug-related executions in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, [reported Amnesty International on Monday](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/04/global-recorded-executions-hit-their-highest-figure-since-2015/).
Those numbers are a severe undercount, warns AI, as China is reported to carry out thousands of executions every year but does not publicly release figures – data is also unavailable for Vietnam and North Korea.
Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq account for 91% of the confirmed executions carried out globally, largely targeting political dissidents, ethnic and sexual minorities amid crackdowns on opposition leaders. While they carry out much fewer executions, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia hold thousands of convicts on death row for drug-related offenses, while Nigeria, Tonga and the Maldives are considering extending their use of capital punishment to drug offenders.
While the number of executions has sharply increased in recent years, it should be noted that fewer and fewer countries apply capital punishment: in 2024, Zimbabwe became the 110th sovereign state to completely abolish the death penalty, while an additional 21 countries maintain moratoriums on executions.