The number of people killed in state-sanctioned executions worldwide rose to a 44-year high in 2025, according to Amnesty International. A total of 2,707 people were executed in 17 countries on criminal charges ranging from drug offenses to acts of political dissidence, a 78% increase from the 1,518 executions recorded in 2024. The tally does not include suspected thousands of executions carried out in China, which Amnesty International describes as the leading country for executions in the world.

Iran executed 2,159 people in 2025, more than double its executions the previous year. Amnesty International attributed the surge partly to the country's increased use of the death penalty since 2022 to suppress dissent. Saudi Arabia executed at least 356 people in 2025. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia were among the countries that used the death penalty to enforce strict drug laws. Amnesty International has described capital punishment as "the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment."

The United States carried out 47 prisoner executions across 11 states in 2025, up from 25 in 2024, and was the only country in the Americas to conduct criminal executions during the year. The death penalty in the United States applies only to murder or treason cases.

Florida led U.S. states with 19 executions in 2025. "Last year, they executed 19 individuals, so almost one every couple of weeks," said Justin Mazzola, Deputy Director for Research at Amnesty International. Texas had the second-most executions with 16, followed by Alabama and North Carolina.

Support for capital punishment in the U.S. peaked at 80% in 1994, according to Gallup. October polling by Gallup found 52% of Americans expressed support for capital punishment, the lowest level since 1972.

"Our own research shows that the majority of U.S. juries are rejecting death sentences for a variety of reasons," said Robin Maher, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center. "I think it's a growing acknowledgment that the death penalty is a failed policy. It really isn't delivering on the promise it once had of deterring future crime and in punishing an inappropriate way," she said.