American Executions Skyrocketed in 2025 to Highest Level in Over a Decade and a Half.

The number of state-sanctioned killings in the US has sharply risen in 2025, reaching a level not seen in 16 years. This surge is attributed to a concerted push to reinvigorate judicial killings, combined with a significant change in the stance of the US Supreme Court toward last-minute appeals.

A Grim Tally: Nearly 50 Deaths in a Single Year

A total of 47 men—each one were male—were executed by individual states that utilize the death penalty in 2025. This figure is nearly double the total from the previous year, marking the highest annual total for executions in the country since 2009.

"Data indicates that the death penalty in 2025 is increasingly unpopular with the public even as elected officials carry out death sentences in search of waning political benefits."

A Global Outlier

This pronounced rise further separates the US from most other advanced economies, very few of which still carry out executions. In recent years, just Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan have carried out executions among peer countries.

A Public Opinion Divide

The comeback of state killings 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, polling indicate support for capital punishment for murder convictions has fallen to a 50-year low, with 52% of respondents in favor. Most of adults under the age of 55 now are against it.

Presidential Influence

On his first day back in office, the sitting President issued an executive order titled "Restoring the Death Penalty." This order aimed to ensure that statutes permitting capital punishment were "upheld and properly enforced," signaling a major shift from the previous presidency.

"The tone is set, the national dialogue sent down from the top—you use violence and cruelty to solve social problems," remarked a prominent activist against executions.

State-Level Frenzy

The national initiative was echoed and intensified at the level of individual states. Florida emerged as a particular extreme case, carrying out 19 executions in 2025—a staggering increase from just one the year before. This shattered the state's previous record.

Together with Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, these a quartet of jurisdictions were the source of almost three-quarters of all executions this year. Overall, 12 states employed their execution facilities, up from nine states in 2024.

Evolving Methods

As activity increased, some states adopted increasingly extreme methods. Louisiana ended a long period without executions and followed another state's lead to employ nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method. Observers reported the prisoner convulsed for multiple minutes during the procedure.

Meanwhile, a different state carried out the first execution by a squad of shooters in the US since 2010, using this method for three of its five executions this year. Accounts suggested that in an instance, faulty targeting may have caused extended agony for the individual.

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 stay 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 legal challenges based on claims of innocence, constitutional arguments, or charges of excessive cruelty. "We’re now operating without a safety net," commented a law professor. "Federal courts are supposed to serve as a backstop, but that safeguard has been removed."