Prison in Iran Executions will rise sharply worldwide in 2025 Human rights
In general, the world trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty continues, but in 2025 the UN Human Rights Office recorded a sharp increase in the number of executions. The general statistics are due to the fact that a number of countries that retain the death penalty have begun to use capital punishment “significantly more often.”
Alarming statistics
“My Office has recorded an alarming increase in the use of the death penalty in 2025, especially for crimes that do not fall under the “most serious crimes” threshold established by international law. Executions of persons convicted of acts committed as children also continue, and secrecy continues around the execution of death sentences,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
The global increase is largely driven by an increase in executions for drug-related crimes that do not involve intentional killing. “This is not only inconsistent with international law, but also ineffective as a crime deterrent,” Turk said.
Drug-related crimes
In Iran At least 1,500 people were reportedly executed in 2025, with at least 47 percent of executions related to drug crimes. “The scale and pace demonstrate the systematic use of the death penalty as an instrument of state intimidation, with a disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities and migrants,” the High Commissioner said.
In Saudi Arabia reportedly executed at least 356 people in 2025, surpassing the previous record set in 2024. Seventy-eight percent of them were executed for drug offenses after such executions resumed at the end of 2022. “At least two of those executed in Saudi Arabia were convicted of crimes committed as children, which raises serious questions, in particular from the point of view of children’s rights,” Turk said.
47 people were executed in the USA
In United States of America In 2025, 47 death sentences were carried out, the highest number in the last 16 years. The increased use of gassing, first introduced in the United States in 2024, has raised serious concerns about possible torture or ill-treatment.
Other countries
Public executions continued in Afghanistan , in violation of international human rights standards. On April 11, 2025, four people convicted of murder were executed by relatives of the victims at sports stadiums in the provinces of Badghis, Nimroz and Farah. Since August 2021, de facto authorities have carried out several public executions.
The death penalty is not an effective tool in fighting crime and can lead to the execution of innocent people
At least 24 people were executed in Somalia and 17 in Singapore . In China and DPRK the use of the death penalty remains shrouded in secrecy, making it difficult to obtain accurate data. In Belarus has recently expanded the list of crimes punishable by death within the framework of national security and counter-terrorism legislation.
In Israel is currently considering a number of legislative initiatives aimed at expanding the use of the death penalty by introducing mandatory death sentences that will be applied exclusively to the Palestinians. This raises serious concerns regarding the violation of their due process rights, as well as other violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law. Executions carried out by Hamas in Gaza are also gross violations of human rights.
Positive steps
At the same time, a number of states have taken encouraging steps in 2025, according to a press release from the UN Human Rights Office. Vietnam has reduced the number of crimes for which the death penalty is provided. Pakistan also excluded two non-violent crimes from being punishable by death, while retaining 29 such articles. Zimbabwe On December 31, 2024, abolished the death penalty for crimes not classified as particularly serious, and Kenya initiated a legislative review of the death penalty. In Malaysia, a resentencing process has reduced the number of people facing execution by more than 1,000. In Kyrgyzstan The Constitutional Court confirmed the ban on the death penalty, recognizing the bill on its return as unconstitutional.
Call for the abolition of the death penalty
“The death penalty is not an effective tool in the fight against crime and can lead to execution innocent people,” Turk said. “In practice, the death penalty is also often applied in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner, in violation of the fundamental principles of equality before the law.”
The High Commissioner reiterated his call on all states that retain the death penalty to immediately introduce a moratorium on executions, commute all existing death sentences and move towards complete abolition of the death penalty.