Death penalty executions in the U.S. and worldwide increased in 2024 over the previous year and reached the highest overall level in a decade, according to a new Amnesty International report.
The human rights group said 1,518 state executions were carried out worldwide last year, marking the highest number since 2015 when the total reached at least 1,634.
In the U.S., executions increased to 25 last year from two dozen in 2023. The nation has seen a consistent rise in executions since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the new study found.
The international escalation is driven in part by “leaders weaponizing the death penalty under the false pretense that it would improve public safety or to instill fear among the population,” the report says. Among those leaders is Donald Trump, whose “dehumanizing remarks” have fostered the false notion that capital punishment is an effective deterrent to crime.
The 13 federal executions carried out during his first term as president ended a 17-year hiatus for the U.S. capital punishment system, and in December he vowed to resume the practice in order “to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.”
The 32% increase in global executions was fueled primarily by increases in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which together accounted for 91% of the world’s executions in 2024, Amnesty reported.
Executions in Iran rose from 853 to 972 in 2024, with more than half those cases being for drug offenses and continuing “a disturbing upward trend since the authorities’ return in 2021 to a heavily punitive drug policy that has intensified their unlawful use of the death penalty.”
Iraq’s execution of at least 63 people last year was up from a minimum of 16 the previous year and in all cases involved those convicted of terrorism or terrorism-related offenses.
“The authorities of Saudi Arabia doubled their resort to executions (at least 345) compared to the previous year (172), marking the highest number of executions in any given year on record with Amnesty International.”
Noticeable increases also were recorded in Egypt, (from eight to 13), Singapore (five to nine) and Yemen (15 to 38.) Women were known to be executed in several countries, including Egypt (two), Iran (30), Saudi Arabia (nine) and Yemen (two), according to the study.
“The known totals do not include the thousands of people believed to have been executed in China, which remains the world’s lead executioner, as well as North Korea and Vietnam, which are also believed to resort to the death penalty extensively,” the report explains.
Ongoing conflicts in Palestine and in Syria prevented confirmation of execution totals by those governments.
The number of U.S. states actively using the death penalty nearly doubled.
Despite the spike in global executions, however, the study found the number of nations using capital punishment declined to 15 for the second year, the lowest level since Amnesty International began tracking executions in the late 1970s.
A complete drop-off of executions in Bangladesh for the first time since 2018 and the recent abolition of capital punishment in Zimbabwe and Zambia contributed to that decline.
The number of U.S. states actively using the death penalty nearly doubled from five to nine between 2023 and 2024, as Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah resumed executions for the first time in several years.
Meanwhile, executions in Alabama increased from two to a nation-leading six in that time frame, while the number declined from six to one in Florida and from eight to five in Texas. Missouri and Oklahoma also continued executions last year.
But the abolition movement is gaining traction in the U.S, researchers said. “As of the end of 2024, 23 U.S. states had abolished this punishment for all crimes, including 11 since the beginning of the millennium.”
Among the 27 remaining death penalty states, California, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wyoming have not carried out an execution for a decade or more. California, Oregon and Pennsylvania are under governor-ordered moratoriums.
Robin Maher
“Public support for the death penalty has been declining for many years and is now at a five-decade low,” said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
The change is prompted by numerous factors including the number of exonerations hitting 200, growing concern about racial bias in capital punishment proceedings, the high cost and the demonstrated lack of any crime-deterring effect, she said. “This trend is likely to continue moving in the same direction, especially since a majority of younger generations, ages 18 to 43, now oppose use of the death penalty.”
And it’s too early to determine if a second Trump presidency will contribute or detract from that opposition, Maher added.
“It’s no secret that President Trump is an enthusiastic supporter of the death penalty, but his enthusiasm really did not affect public support when he was previously in office. On the contrary, the federal execution spree in 2020-2021 was very concerning even to people who supported use of the death penalty.”
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