A new Amnesty International report discloses that 1,518 people were executed in 2024 worldwide, the highest number in a decade.
According to a new Amnesty International report, the number of executions worldwide in 2024, 1,518 people, is the highest recorded in the past decade. This is an increase of 32% compared to 2023, when 1,153 people were executed worldwide. Most of the executions took place in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, where 1,300 people were executed last year.
In Iran alone, 972 people were executed last year, up from the previous year, when 853 people were executed in the Islamic Republic.
Twenty-five people in the US were executed in the past year.
Despite the increase in numbers, Amnesty noted that only fifteen countries worldwide implement the death penalty, the lowest number recorded for the second year in a row. The highest number of executions before 2024 was recorded in 2015, when 1,634 people were executed worldwide.According to a new Amnesty International report, the number of executions worldwide in 2024, 1,518 people, is the highest recorded in the past decade. This is an increase of 32% compared to 2023, when 1,153 people were executed worldwide. Most of the executions took place in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, where 1,300 people were executed last year.
In Iran alone, 972 people were executed last year, up from the previous year, when 853 people were executed in the Islamic Republic.
Twenty-five people in the US were executed in the past year.
Despite the increase in numbers, Amnesty noted that only fifteen countries worldwide implement the death penalty, the lowest number recorded for the second year in a row. The highest number of executions before 2024 was recorded in 2015, when 1,634 people were executed worldwide.
However, the report notes that they believe that, “the real number is higher, because it does not include executions in China, which carry out thousands of executions every year, or the executions in Vietnam and North Korea.”
Forty percent of all executions last year were for drug offenses. “Those who dare to defy the authorities have faced the cruelest punishments, especially in Iran and Saudi Arabia, where the death penalty is used to silence those brave enough to speak out,” said Secretary-General of Amnesty International, Ms. Agnès Callamard.
