Executions nearly doubled in the U.S. last year, and soared abroad

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. World Executions nearly doubled in the U. last year, and soared abroad May 17, 20268:01 AM ET By Alana Wise Of the 11 U. states that executed prisoners in 2025, Florida led the way with 19 executions.

Curt Anderson/AP hide caption toggle caption Curt Anderson/AP The number of executions around the globe spiked to a 44-year high in 2025, according to a new report from Amnesty International, with state-sanctioned killings nearly doubling in the United States in the span of a year. A total of 2,707 people were killed in 17 countries related to criminal charges ranging from drug offenses to acts of political dissidence, the human rights organization reported Sunday. That marks a 78% rise in executions from the previous year, when Amnesty recorded 1,518 executions.

The Details

Iran accounted for most of last year's executions, putting 2,159 people to death — more than double its executions in 2024. In September, Amnesty said that Iran in 2025 had already reached its highest number of executions in 15 years. It attributed the surge partly to the country's increased use of the death penalty "as a tool of state repression and to crush dissent," since 2022, when a sweeping women's rights protest movement erupted.

Sponsor Message Many countries used the death penalty to enforce strict drug laws, according to Amnesty, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, the latter of which executed at least 356 people in 2025. The nonprofit organization, which supports the abolition of the death penalty, says its execution count does not include suspected thousands of executions carried out in China, which the organization describes as the leading country for executions anywhere in the world. similarly saw a sharp increase in prisoner executions — 47 across 11 states in the last year, up from 25 in 2024.

, where the death penalty applies only to murder or treason cases, is the only country in the Americas to have carried out criminal executions last year, Amnesty says. Florida led that count with 19 executions. The state's Republican Gov.

What Experts Say

Ron DeSantis has championed the death penalty, hailing it as a "strong deterrent" for crime and "an appropriate punishment for the worst offenders. " He's made it easier to impose the punishment: In 2023, he lowered Florida's legal threshold for the death penalty, eliminating the requirement for a jury to unanimously recommend the punishment. Texas had the second-most executions in the country at 169, followed by Alabama and North Carolina.

Justin Mazzola, deputy director for research at Amnesty International, says the "huge spike" in U. executions is "tied specifically to what was happening in Florida. " Sponsor Message "Normally, Florida would only execute anywhere between one to two, sometimes a spike of six in a single year," he said.

"Last year, they executed 19 individuals, so almost one every couple of weeks," Mazzola said.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.