There is controversy in Israel over proposed legislation to introduce capital punishment for Palestinians convicted of deadly terrorist attacks. Although the death penalty remains on Israel’s books, it is not currently enforced; passing these bills would reverse that and run counter to a broader global trend toward abolition.
Amnesty International reports that 113 countries have fully abolished the death penalty. Some states have abolished it for ordinary crimes but retain it for military offences, while others maintain moratoria.
In 2024, Amnesty recorded more than 2,000 death sentences handed down in 46 countries. Regional patterns vary widely. In Europe and Central Asia only Belarus imposed a death sentence, and then in a single case. In the Americas, the United States imposed 26 death sentences and Trinidad and Tobago one.
Sub-Saharan Africa saw several hundred death sentences across 14 countries. In the Middle East and North Africa nearly 800 death sentences were recorded across nine countries; Nigeria (over 180) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (over 125) accounted for the largest shares. The Asia-Pacific region had the highest total with well over 800 death sentences; Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam each recorded three-digit figures. Exact totals are often uncertain because some countries—such as Afghanistan, China and North Korea—provide no reliable public figures.
The recorded number of death sentences fell from roughly 2,400 the previous year to just under 2,100 in 2024. Over the decade from 2014 to 2024 the annual total fluctuated around 2,000, peaking near 3,100 in 2016 and dipping to just under 1,500 in 2020.
Death sentences do not always lead to immediate execution, and executions can sometimes result from sentences imposed long ago, so numbers of sentences and executions can diverge. Separate monitoring groups report high execution totals for 2025: Iran Human Rights says at least 1,500 people were executed in Iran in 2025, and the United Nations reported at least 356 executions in Saudi Arabia the same year. The UN also recorded 47 executions in the United States in 2025.
Amnesty’s long-term data show differing trends for sentences and executions. Death sentences have fluctuated and declined in 2024 relative to 2023, while executions rose after 2020: following a peak of 1,634 executions in 2015, figures fell to 483 in 2020 but climbed each year thereafter to 1,518 in 2024. Given additional reported executions in 2025, totals for that year are likely higher.
Overall, fewer countries now issue death sentences, but those that do are increasingly responsible for large numbers of executions. Amnesty ranks China first in 2024 with thousands executed (estimates, as the Chinese government keeps figures secret). Iran was second with at least 972 executions and Saudi Arabia third with at least 345. Many other countries carry out executions in the double or single digits. No reliable execution figures are available for Afghanistan, North Korea, Syria or Vietnam.
It is uncertain whether executions will continue rising into 2026. Current events—most notably Iran’s crackdown on protesters—suggest further high numbers there, and in several other executing countries there are no signs of a reduction in use of capital punishment.
This article was originally published in German.