American Executions Surged in the Past Year to Highest Level in Over a Decade and a Half.

The count of state-sanctioned killings in the US has sharply risen in 2025, reaching a rate not seen in 16 years. This surge is attributed to a focused campaign to revive the death penalty, coupled with a significant change in the approach of the nation's highest court toward eleventh-hour pleas.

A Sobering Count: 47 Executions in a Single Year

A total of 47 individuals—all of whom were male—were put to death by states that utilize the death penalty in 2025. This figure is nearly double the total from 2024, marking the highest annual total for capital punishment in the country in 16 years.

"The evidence shows that the death penalty in 2025 is increasingly unpopular with the American people even as elected officials carry out death sentences in search of waning political benefits."

An International Exception

This pronounced rise further separates the United States from most other advanced economies, almost none of which continue the practice. In recent years, just Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan have carried out capital punishment among similarly developed states.

A Public Opinion Divide

The comeback of state killings clashes directly with long-term trends and modern public opinion. Over the past two decades, the use of the death penalty had been in gradual decline. Meanwhile, polling indicate approval of capital punishment for those convicted of murder has fallen to a 50-year low, with 52% of respondents in favor. Most of citizens under the age of 55 now are against it.

Executive Action Sets the Tone

On his first day back in office, the President issued an presidential directive titled "Reinstating Capital Punishment." This order aimed to ensure that laws authorizing capital punishment were "upheld and properly enforced," signaling a major shift from the prior administration.

"The tone is set, the national dialogue sent down from the top—the idea is to use harsh measures to solve social problems," remarked a well-known activist against executions.

State-Level Frenzy

The federal push was mirrored and amplified at the state level. The state of Florida emerged as a notable outlier, conducting 19 executions in 2025—a dramatic increase from just one the year before. This broke the state's previous record.

Together with several other southern states, these a quartet of jurisdictions were responsible for almost 75% of all executions this year. Overall, a dozen states employed their execution facilities, up from nine in 2024.

More Extreme Execution Protocols

As activity increased, some states turned to more controversial techniques. One state concluded a long period without executions and followed another state's lead to employ nitrogen gas as an execution method. Observers reported the condemned individual visibly shook for several minutes during the procedure.

In another development, South Carolina performed the initial use by a squad of shooters in the US since 2010, deploying this approach for three of its five executions this year. Reports suggested that in an instance, faulty targeting may have caused extended agony for the individual.

The Supreme Court's Role

The surge in executions 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 traditional function as a final avenue for appeals based on claims of innocence, constitutional arguments, or charges of excessive cruelty. "The system now functions lacking a crucial backup," commented a law professor. "The judiciary are meant to act as a backstop, but that safeguard has been removed."