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

The number of state-sanctioned killings in the United States has sharply risen in 2025, reaching a rate not seen in 16 years. This sharp uptick is linked to a concerted push to reinvigorate judicial killings, coupled with a notable shift in the approach of the US Supreme Court toward last-minute appeals.

A Sobering Count: 47 Executions in a Single Year

Exactly 47 men—each one were male—were executed by individual states maintaining the death penalty in 2025. This figure is nearly twice the total from the previous year, marking the most active period for capital punishment in the country since 2009.

"The evidence shows that the death penalty in 2025 is growing less popular with the American people even as elected officials schedule executions in search of diminishing political benefits."

An International Exception

This pronounced rise further isolates the US from nearly all other advanced economies, almost none of which still carry out executions. Currently, just a handful of Asian nations have carried out capital punishment among similarly developed states.

Contradictory Trends

The comeback of executions clashes directly with long-term trends and modern public opinion. For years, the use of the death penalty had been in a steady decrease. Meanwhile, surveys indicate support for capital punishment for those convicted of murder has fallen to a 50-year low, with just over half of respondents in favor. A majority of adults under the age of 55 now are against it.

Executive Action Sets the Tone

On his inauguration day back in office, the sitting President issued an executive order titled "Reinstating Capital Punishment." This order sought to guarantee that statutes permitting capital punishment were "respected and faithfully implemented," marking a clear change 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 well-known anti-death penalty advocate.

A Surge in State Executions

The national initiative was echoed and intensified at the level of individual states. Florida became a particular outlier, carrying out 19 executions in 2025—a dramatic increase from just one the year before. This shattered the state's prior annual record.

Together with several other southern states, 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 increasingly extreme methods. One state ended a 15-year hiatus and became the second state to use nitrogen gas as an means of execution. Witnesses reported the condemned individual visibly shook for multiple minutes during the process.

In another development, South Carolina performed the first execution by firing squad in the US since 2010, using this method for three of its total executions this year. Accounts suggested that in one case, faulty targeting may have prolonged suffering for the individual.

A Changed Judicial Landscape

The increase in executions is also connected to the posture of the US Supreme Court. The majority-conservative bench denied every request to stay an execution in 2025, a rare display of judicial disengagement.

This marks a change from the court's traditional function 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 backstop, but that stop gap has been eviscerated."