In 2024, 1 518 people were executed in 15 countries, the highest number since 2015, when 1 634 such sentences were recorded.
This is stated in a report by the human rights organization Amnesty International.
Amnesty International does not have data on the number of executions in China, North Korea, and Vietnam (these countries conceal information about executions), as well as in Syria and the Palestinian territories, where hostilities are ongoing. According to human rights activists, there may be thousands of unrecorded executions.
The number of countries that use the death penalty remains at its lowest level in history for the second year in a row.
The majority of death sentences in 2024 were carried out in Iran (972 executions), Iraq (63) and Saudi Arabia (345). These countries accounted for 1 380 recorded executions. At the same time, the number of executions in these three countries increased over the past year.
“Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia are responsible for a sharp increase in deaths last year, carrying out over 91% of recorded executions, violating human rights and callously taking people’s lives on drug and terrorism-related charges,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard.
Callamard noted that in Iran and Saudi Arabia, the death penalty is used "to silence those who have the courage to speak out".
More than 40% of executions in 2024 were carried out for drug-related crimes. Under international law, the death penalty should be limited to the “most serious crimes” — and drug-related crimes do not fall under that definition.
To date, 113 countries have completely abolished the death penalty, and 145 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
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