Saudi Arabia Breaks Execution Record Again With 340 Deaths in 2025

Saudi Arabia has set a new record for the most executions carried out in a single year, with 340 people put to death in 2025, following the execution of three individuals on Monday, according to AFP’s tally.

The figure surpasses the previous record of 338 executions in 2024 and marks the second consecutive year the kingdom has broken its own record since rights groups began documenting executions in the 1990s.

A statement from the Interior Ministry, carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), confirmed that the three people executed in the Mecca region were convicted of murder.

Of this year’s total, 232 executions involved drug-related offenses, accounting for the majority of the deaths. Analysts link the rise in executions to the kingdom’s “war on drugs” launched in 2023, with many of those previously arrested now facing capital punishment after completing legal proceedings.

Saudi Arabia had temporarily suspended executions for drug offenses for around three years but resumed them at the end of 2022. The government has increased police checkpoints on highways and at border crossings, confiscated millions of captagon pills, and arrested numerous traffickers, with foreigners disproportionately affected.

The kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter, relies heavily on foreign labor in construction, domestic work, and hospitality. Critics have long condemned its use of the death penalty as excessive, noting it contrasts sharply with efforts to present a modern image internationally.

Amnesty International has been tracking executions in Saudi Arabia since 1990, as data from earlier years remains largely unclear.