The number of judicial executions worldwide surged to its highest level in more than four decades last year, with at least 2,707 people put to death in 17 countries, according to the latest annual report from Amnesty International. The 78% increase over the 1,518 executions recorded in 2024 represents the steepest annual rise since the organisation began systematically tracking the death penalty in 1981. The spike, the report makes clear, is overwhelmingly attributable to a small cluster of states determined to use capital punishment as an instrument of political control.

Iran alone accounted for more than 80% of known executions, with authorities killing at least 2,159 people – more than double the figure for 2024. The escalation coincided with a brief but intense military confrontation with Israel in June, which, as noted by observers in the region, provided a pretext for an even more aggressive use of the death penalty against drug offenders and political dissidents. Saudi Arabia followed with 356 executions, many for drug-related offences, while Kuwait nearly tripled its tally from six to 17. Egypt, Singapore and the United States also recorded significant increases, with the US rising from 25 to 47 executions. The data excludes China and North Korea, where state secrecy prevents reliable counting, though Amnesty estimates that thousands more executions likely took place.

Viewed from capitals where abolition has long been a settled norm, the figures represent a disturbing reversal. Yet the rise in executions does not imply a retreat from the global trend towards abolition. When Amnesty first launched its campaign against capital punishment in 1977, only 16 countries had abolished it; today, more than two-thirds of nations have done so. The 2025 record is the work of a dwindling but determined minority. As Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary general, put it, these governments are using executions to “spread fear, crush dissent, and demonstrate the power of state institutions over vulnerable people and marginalized communities.”

The question of whether the death penalty deters crime remains fiercely debated, but in Iran and Saudi Arabia, the report suggests, deterrence is not the primary objective. Instead, capital punishment has become a tool of societal intimidation, wielded with particular brutality against protesters and minority groups. In Iran, the near-doubling of executions followed months of unrest and a government crackdown that has drawn international condemnation but no meaningful sanction from major powers. Analysts in London note that the lack of geopolitical leverage over Tehran has allowed it to escalate with impunity.

Looking ahead, Amnesty insists there are “bright spots” – countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia that, despite having large death-row populations, have refrained from carrying out executions. Yet the overall trajectory is sobering. With the most prolific executioner states showing no sign of restraint, and with diplomatic efforts to curb the practice largely stalled, the world may need to accept that the era of near-total abolition is further away than optimists had hoped. The burden now falls on the international community, particularly the UN Human Rights Council and influential Western capitals, to translate moral outrage into sustained pressure – a task made no easier by the deepening polarisation that defines the current geopolitical landscape.