American Executions Skyrocketed in the Past Year to Peak in 16 Years.
The number of executions in the US has sharply risen in 2025, reaching a rate not seen in since 2009. This surge is attributed to a concerted push to revive the death penalty, combined with a significant change in the approach of the US Supreme Court toward last-minute appeals.
A Grim Tally: 47 Executions in a Single Year
A total of 47 individuals—all of whom were male—were executed by states maintaining the death penalty this year. This number is nearly twice the count from the previous year, marking the most active period for executions in the United States since 2009.
"The evidence shows that the death penalty in 2025 is increasingly unpopular with the public even as politicians schedule executions in search of diminishing political benefits."
A Global Outlier
This sharp increase further separates the US from nearly all other advanced economies, almost none of which continue the practice. Currently, just Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan have conducted capital punishment among similarly developed states.
Contradictory Trends
The resurgence of executions clashes directly with broader patterns and current public sentiment. For years, the use of the death penalty had been in a steady decrease. Meanwhile, surveys indicate approval of capital punishment for murder convictions has fallen to a 50-year low, with just over half of Americans in favor. Most of citizens under the age of 55 now oppose it.
Executive Action Sets the Tone
On his first day back in office, the sitting President issued an presidential directive titled "Reinstating Capital Punishment." This order aimed to guarantee that laws authorizing capital punishment were "upheld and properly enforced," signaling a major shift from the previous presidency.
"It’s in the air, it’s in the national rhetoric sent down from the top—the idea is to use harsh measures to solve social problems," stated a prominent anti-death penalty advocate.
State-Level Frenzy
The national initiative was echoed and intensified at the state level. The state of Florida emerged as a notable extreme case, conducting 19 executions in 2025—a staggering increase from just one the previous year. This broke the state's previous record.
Alongside Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas, these a quartet of jurisdictions were the source of almost three-quarters of all deaths this year. In total, a dozen states actively used their execution facilities, up from nine in 2024.
Evolving Methods
As activity increased, some states turned to more controversial methods. Louisiana concluded a 15-year hiatus and followed another state's lead to use nitrogen hypoxia as an means of execution. Witnesses reported the prisoner visibly shook for multiple minutes during the process.
Meanwhile, South Carolina carried out the initial use by a squad of shooters in the US since 2010, using this method for three of its five executions this year. Reports suggested that in an instance, faulty targeting may have caused extended agony for the individual.
A Changed Judicial Landscape
The surge in executions is also linked to the position of the US Supreme Court. The court's conservative majority rejected all applications to stay an execution in 2025, a notable demonstration of judicial disengagement.
This marks a change from the court's historical role as a final avenue for legal challenges based on claims of innocence, rights-based arguments, or allegations of cruel punishment. "The system now functions without a safety net," noted a legal scholar. "Federal courts are supposed to serve as a backstop, but that safeguard has been removed."