Executions in several countries that retain the death penalty surged in 2025, despite abolition campaigns gaining momentum worldwide.
An Iran-focused nonprofit estimated that the country executed at least 1,500 people in the first 11 months of the year — more than double the number the year before — while Saudi Arabia’s 356 executions were the highest on record, according to AFP.
The US, meanwhile, put 47 people to death in 2025, nearly twice as many as in 2024 and the most since 2009.
Figures are unavailable for China, which keeps most executions secret but is widely believed to be the world’s leading executioner. Globally, the practice is falling out of favor: The UN says 170 states have stopped using it.