Saudi Arabia has recorded its highest number of executions in a single year, according to an AFP count, with a total of 340 people put to death so far this year. The latest increase followed the execution of three individuals on Monday, authorities confirmed.

This latest figure represents the second consecutive year the kingdom has surpassed its own execution record since human rights organisations began systematically tracking the practice in the early 1990s. In 2024, Saudi Arabia carried out 338 executions, a number that has now been exceeded.

In a statement released by the Interior Ministry and published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, officials said the three most recent executions took place in the Mecca region. The individuals were convicted of murder and were executed in accordance with the country’s laws.

A significant portion of this year’s executions has been linked to drug-related offences. AFP’s analysis of official announcements indicates that 232 of the 340 executions carried out in 2025 were connected to narcotics crimes. Observers and analysts have largely attributed the sharp rise in executions to Saudi Arabia’s intensified “war on drugs,” which was launched in 2023. Many of those now being executed were arrested earlier and only recently exhausted their legal processes.

Saudi authorities reinstated the death penalty for drug offences in late 2022, ending a suspension that had lasted nearly three years. The kingdom is considered one of the largest markets for captagon, a powerful illegal stimulant that was once Syria’s top export during the rule of Bashar al-Assad, who was removed from power last year.

Since the anti-drug campaign began, security operations have been ramped up, with more checkpoints on highways and at border points. These efforts have led to the seizure of millions of pills and the arrest of numerous suspected traffickers. Foreign nationals have reportedly been disproportionately affected by the crackdown.

Despite Saudi Arabia’s push to project a progressive and modern global image, its extensive use of capital punishment continues to attract criticism from human rights groups, who describe the practice as excessive. Amnesty International has monitored executions in the kingdom since 1990, though earlier records remain largely undocumented.