Executions nearly doubled in the U.S. last year, and soared abroad
By Alana Wise
What happened
In 2025, Amnesty International recorded 2,707 executions across 17 countries, a 78% increase from 1,518 in 2024. Iran accounted for 2,159 of these executions, more than double its 2024 total, with the surge attributed to increased use of capital punishment as a tool of state repression since 2022. Saudi Arabia executed at least 356 people in 2025, primarily for drug offenses.
The United States executed 47 people across 11 states in 2025, up from 25 in 2024. Florida led with 19 executions, compared to its historical average of one to two per year. Governor Ron DeSantis lowered Florida's legal threshold for the death penalty in 2023, eliminating the requirement for unanimous jury recommendation.
Public support for capital punishment in the U.S. stands at 52% according to October 2025 Gallup polling, the lowest in five decades since 1972. Support peaked at 80% in 1994. The Death Penalty Information Center reports that U.S. juries are increasingly rejecting death sentences due to concerns about fairness and wrongful convictions.
Who's perspective
The article is written from a human rights advocacy-adjacent perspective, drawing heavily on Amnesty International — an explicitly abolitionist organization — as its primary source and framing authority. This means the statistical and moral framing of the data is largely shaped by an organization with a declared position against the death penalty, which the article does not consistently flag when presenting their characterizations.
Taken for granted
The article treats declining public support for the death penalty as evidence that increased executions are out of step with democratic will, without addressing whether public opinion is the appropriate standard for evaluating criminal justice policy. An alternative framing — that legislatures and courts, not polls, set legal standards — is not explored.
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