Amnesty Says 2025 Executions Jumped 78% to 2,707 as Florida Drove 19 of 47 U.S. Deaths
Updated
Updated · Tallahassee Democrat · May 18
Amnesty Says 2025 Executions Jumped 78% to 2,707 as Florida Drove 19 of 47 U.S. Deaths
11 articles · Updated · Tallahassee Democrat · May 18
At least 2,707 people were executed worldwide in 2025, Amnesty International said, a 78% rise from 2024 and the highest documented total since 1981.
Florida accounted for 19 of the 47 U.S. executions last year—nearly half the national total—making 2025 the country's busiest year for executions since 2009.
Amnesty tied the surge to authoritarian crackdowns in countries led by Iran and Saudi Arabia, while also faulting Gov. Ron DeSantis for accelerating death warrants and promoting deterrence claims it called false.
Florida is set to continue that pace with executions scheduled for May 21 and June 2, even as the state faces scrutiny over lethal-injection protocol documents and expands execution methods including firing squads, hangings and gas chambers.
Only 17 countries were known to carry out executions in 2025, Amnesty said, while 113 had abolished the death penalty and 23 others had not used it for at least a decade.
As executions hit a 40-year high, is the global movement to abolish the death penalty actually failing?
With Israel mandating a new death penalty, what does this signal for justice and human rights in the Middle East?