GENEVA - While the overall global trend continues to move towards universal abolition of the death penalty, the world has witnessed a sharp hike in the number of executions in 2025, primarily due to a significant rise in executions in a small number of retentionist States, UN Human Rights warned on Monday.
"My Office monitored an alarming increase in the use of the capital punishment in 2025, especially for offences not meeting the 'most serious crimes' threshold required under international law, the continued execution of people convicted of crimes committed as children, as well as persistent secrecy around executions," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.
The global increase is driven in particular by a growing number of executions for drug-related offences not involving intentional killing. "This is not only incompatible with international law, but also ineffective in deterring crime," Türk said.
In Iran, at least 1,500 individuals were reportedly executed in 2025, with at least 47 per cent relating to drug offences. "The scale and pace of executions suggest a systematic use of capital punishment as a tool of State intimidation, with disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities and migrants," the High Commissioner said.
In Saudi Arabia, at least 356 people were reportedly executed in 2025, exceeding the previous record set in 2024. Seventy-eight per cent of those were for drug-related offences, following the resumption of such executions in late 2022. "At least two among those executed in Saudi Arabia were convicted of crimes committed as children, which raises serious questions with respect to children's rights in particular," Türk said.
In the United States, 47 executions were carried out in 2025 - the highest number in 16 years. The use of execution by gas asphyxiation, first introduced in the U.S. in 2024, broadened, raising serious concerns of torture or cruel punishment.
Public executions continued in Afghanistan, in breach of international law. On 11 April 2025, four people convicted of murder were executed by victims' relatives at sports stadiums in Badghis, Nimroz and Farah provinces. Since August 2021, de facto authorities have carried out several public executions.
At least 24 people were executed in Somalia and 17 in Singapore. In China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the use of the death penalty remains shrouded in secrecy, making it difficult to obtain accurate numbers. In Belarus, the scope of capital offences has recently been expanded under national security and terrorism-related legislation.
In Israel, there are currently a series of legislative proposals seeking to expand the use of the death penalty by introducing mandatory capital punishment provisions that would apply exclusively to Palestinians. This raises serious concerns about violation of their due process rights, as well as other breaches of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Executions carried out by Hamas in Gaza are also blatant human rights violations.
Several States took encouraging steps in 2025. Vietnam reduced the number of offences punishable by death. Pakistan also removed two non-lethal capital offences while retaining 29. Zimbabwe abolished on 31 December 2024 the death penalty for ordinary crimes, while Kenya initiated a legislative review of capital punishment. Malaysia's resentencing process reduced the number of people at risk of execution by more than 1,000. In Kyrgyzstan, the Constitutional Court reaffirmed the prohibition of the death penalty, ruling that a bill to reintroduce the death penalty was unconstitutional.
"The death penalty is not an effective crime-control tool, and it can lead to the execution of innocent people," Türk said. "In practice, the death penalty is also often applied arbitrarily and discriminatorily, in violation of fundamental principles of equality before the law."
The High Commissioner reiterated his call for all States that retain the death penalty to establish an immediate moratorium on executions, commute all existing death sentences, and move towards full abolition.
