American Executions Surged in 2025 to Peak in Over a Decade and a Half.
The number of state-sanctioned killings in the United States has sharply risen in 2025, reaching a level not seen in since 2009. This surge is linked to a concerted push to revive judicial killings, coupled with a significant change in the approach of the US Supreme Court toward eleventh-hour pleas.
A Grim Tally: 47 Executions in a Single Year
Exactly 47 individuals—all of whom were male—were executed by states maintaining the death penalty this year. This number represents nearly twice the count from the previous year, marking the most active period for capital punishment in the United States since 2009.
"The evidence shows that the death penalty in 2025 is growing less popular with the public even as elected officials schedule executions in search of diminishing political benefits."
A Global Outlier
This sharp increase further separates the United States from nearly all other developed nations, almost none of which still carry out executions. In recent years, just a handful of Asian nations have conducted executions among peer countries.
Contradictory Trends
The resurgence of executions stands in stark contrast with long-term trends and current public sentiment. For years, the use of the death penalty had been in gradual decline. Meanwhile, surveys indicate support for capital punishment for murder convictions has reached a half-century low, with 52% of respondents in favor. Most of adults under the age of 55 now oppose it.
Executive Action Sets the Tone
On his first day back in office, the President issued an presidential directive titled "Restoring the Death Penalty." This order sought to ensure that statutes permitting capital punishment were "respected and faithfully implemented," signaling a major shift from the prior administration.
"The tone is set, the national dialogue sent down from the top—you use violence and cruelty to solve social problems," remarked a prominent anti-death penalty advocate.
State-Level Frenzy
The national initiative was mirrored and amplified at the state level. The state of Florida emerged as a notable extreme case, carrying out 19 executions in 2025—a dramatic increase from just one the previous year. This broke the state's prior annual record.
Alongside Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, these four states were the source of almost 75% of all executions this year. In total, a dozen states employed their death chambers, up from nine in 2024.
Evolving Methods
As more executions occurred, some states adopted more controversial techniques. One state ended a 15-year hiatus and followed another state's lead to use nitrogen hypoxia as an means of execution. Observers reported the condemned individual visibly shook for several minutes during the procedure.
Meanwhile, a different state carried out the first execution by a squad of shooters in the US since 2010, deploying this approach for three of its total executions this year. Reports suggested that in an instance, imprecise aim may have caused extended agony for the condemned.
A Changed Judicial Landscape
The surge in death sentences carried out is also connected to the position of the nation's highest court. The court's conservative majority rejected all applications to halt an execution in 2025, a rare display of judicial disengagement.
This represents a shift from the court's historical role as a final avenue for appeals based on claims of innocence, constitutional arguments, or charges of excessive cruelty. "We’re now operating without a safety net," noted a law professor. "The judiciary are meant to act as a final check, but that stop gap has been eviscerated."