Saudi Arabia executes record 356 people in 2025

Saudi Arabia executed 356 people in 2025, setting a new annual record for the number of executions carried out in the kingdom, according to an AFP tally.

Analysts have largely attributed the sharp rise to Riyadh's ongoing "war on drugs," launched in recent years, with many of those arrested earlier now facing execution following legal proceedings and convictions.

Official government data show that 243 of the executions in 2025 were linked to drug-related offences, AFP reported.

The 2025 figures mark the second consecutive year in which Saudi Arabia has set a new execution record, after putting 338 people to death in 2024.

Duaa Dhainy, a researcher at the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, told AFP that the record-breaking numbers were "proof that promises regarding human rights reforms in Saudi Arabia have no value."

She said the executions served as a message of "intimidation and fear for everyone," including migrant workers, minors and political opponents.

The Berlin-based organisation also confirmed that 2025 was the first year in which more foreigners were executed than Saudi nationals.

Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug-related offences at the end of 2022, after suspending the death penalty in narcotics cases for about three years.

The kingdom, the Arab world's largest economy, is one of the biggest markets for captagon, an illicit stimulant that was Syria's largest export under former president Bashar al-Assad, according to the United Nations. Assad was ousted in December 2024.

Since launching its anti-drug campaign, Saudi authorities have increased police checkpoints on highways and at border crossings, seizing millions of pills and arresting dozens of suspected traffickers. Foreign nationals have so far borne the brunt of the campaign, rights groups say.

Saudi Arabia has long faced criticism over its use of capital punishment, which human rights organisations describe as excessive and inconsistent with the country's efforts to project a modern image.

Activists argue that the continued use of the death penalty undermines the image of a more open and tolerant society promoted under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 reform agenda, as the kingdom invests heavily in tourism and international sporting events, including the 2034 football World Cup.

Saudi authorities, however, maintain that the death penalty is necessary to preserve public order and is applied only after all avenues of appeal have been exhausted.

Amnesty International has documented executions in Saudi Arabia since 1990, while figures from earlier periods remain largely unclear.