Iran pushed global executions to a 44-year high in 2025 — more than doubling the number of people it killed in 2024
The ruthless Iranian regime executed over 2,100 people in 2025, more than doubling the number of those put to death the year before — and pushing the total number of executions across the globe to a staggering 44-year high, a shocking new report said.
Iran carried out at least 2,159 of the approximately 2,707 executions recorded worldwide last year, blowing past its 2024 body count of at least 972 and accounting for nearly 80% of all documented executions in 2025, according to chilling new figures from Amnesty International.
The unprecedented death toll by Tehran marked the highest recorded since 1981, with the use of capital punishment increasingly linked to political repression and control, the report said.
Nearly half of the executions were linked to drug-related offenses, in violation of international human rights law and standards, according to Amnesty International.
The report revealed that Iran dramatically stepped up its killings after hostilities with Israel erupted in June 2025, recording 654 executions between January and June, and 1,505 between July and December.
Hangings served as the ruthless regime’s go-to method of death, as mandatory death sentences and public executions continued across the Middle Eastern country.
The report does not account for the slew of barbaric executions that have been ordered since January’s nationwide revolt and the start of the war with Israel and the US.
Amnesty International recorded a staggering 2,707 executions across 17 countries in 2025 – a 78% spike from the 1,519 confirmed deaths in 2024.
“Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally and has been campaigning globally for its abolition since 1977, when only 16 countries were abolitionist for all crimes,” the report said.
“By the end of 2025, that figure had risen to 113.”
Saudi Arabia exceeded its 2024 total with at least 356 executions, followed by Yemen with at least 51 and the United States with 47. Egypt put 23 people to death, while Somalia, Kuwait and Singapore each recorded 17 killings, according to the report.
Afghanistan saw six, the United Arab Emirates three, and Japan, South Sudan and Taiwan each recorded just one execution.
The report excludes what are believed to be thousands of executions in China, amid the country’s tight secrecy surrounding the death penalty.
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