Amnesty International presents annual report: More executions in fewer countries

Global execution figures reached an alarmingly high level in 2024 and were the highest they have been in ten years, according to Amnesty International’s latest annual report.

Last year, the organization recorded 1518 known executions. This represents an increase of almost 32 percent compared to the 1153 executions in 2023. This increase is primarily due to rising numbers in three countries in the Middle East: Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

In Iraq, the number of known executions has quadrupled within a year to at least 63, while in Iran, the authorities have executed at least 972 people, a 14% increase on the 853 death sentences carried out in 2023. Saudi Arabian authorities doubled the number of death sentences carried out to at least 345 compared to the previous year.

Excluding China, known executions in Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia account for 91 percent of recorded executions worldwide, with Iran alone accounting for 64 percent. The total number of executions in 2024 is attributable to just a few countries.

The number of countries in which the death penalty was carried out has fallen significantly, from 20 in 2022 to 15 in 2024. The countries with the highest known execution figures are China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen – in that order.

However, the classification of the death penalty as a state secret and the use of other restrictive practices in China, North Korea, Vietnam and other countries continue to hamper the ability to accurately assess the scale of executions.

Death sentences

Amnesty International registered 2087 new death sentences in 2024, a decrease of 14 percent compared to the 2428 death sentences announced in 2023. 46 states sentenced people to death last year, six fewer than in 2023. At the end of 2024, there were at least 28,085 people sentenced to death on death row in prisons around the world, 11,667 (42 percent) of them in the Asia-Pacific region alone.

In addition to murder, the death penalty was also imposed and carried out for crimes that did not involve intentional homicide and therefore do not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes”. The total number of 637 executions related to narcotics offenses accounted for 42 percent of all recorded executions worldwide in 2024, a 25 percent increase compared to 2023.

Amnesty International also observed that the death penalty remained a common tool in some countries in 2024, used by several governments to control their own populations and suppress dissent.

145 countries, almost three quarters of all countries worldwide, have now abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. 54 states still retain it, including only Belarus in Europe.

Further information:

Amnesty International – Todesurteile und Hinrichtungen 2024 (Bericht in Auszügen)
Amnesty International Global Report – Death Sentences and Executions 2024

Source: Globale Hinrichtungszahlen erreichen 2024 alarmierend hohen Stand