JAKARTA – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has executed 340 individuals throughout 2025, establishing an unprecedented record for the highest number of death sentences carried out in a single year, according to data compiled by AFP from official government announcements.

The most recent executions occurred Monday when three Saudi citizens were put to death following their conviction for the murder of a Sudanese national, as reported by the Interior Ministry through the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The ministry named the executed men as Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Shamrani, Bandar bin Musa Al-Qarni, and Mahdi bin Yahya Awaji. All three were executed in the Makkah region, pushing this year’s execution total to 340 and exceeding the previous record of 338 deaths set just last year in 2024.

Drug-related convictions account for a staggering portion of this year’s executions, with 232 individuals—representing over two-thirds of the total—executed for narcotics offenses. This dramatic increase in drug-related executions has been the primary factor driving the overall rise in capital punishment cases, continuing a pattern established in the previous year.

According to Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia has consistently ranked as the world’s third-largest executor of the death penalty in 2022, 2023, and 2024, trailing only China and Iran. The London-based human rights organization documented that the kingdom’s 338 executions in 2024 represented the highest figure since Amnesty began monitoring Saudi executions in 1990.

Human rights advocates and international experts attribute the surge in executions to Saudi authorities’ aggressive anti-drug campaign initiated in 2023, specifically targeting Captagon—a synthetic stimulant that has gained widespread popularity throughout the region. United Nations statistics identify Saudi Arabia as one of the Middle East’s largest markets for the illicit substance.

The kingdom reinstated capital punishment for drug-related crimes in late 2022, ending a moratorium that had been in place for nearly three years.

Original Article:

MEMO. (2025, December 17). Saudi Arabia surpasses execution record with 340 deaths carried out in 2025. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.middleeastmonitor.com/20251216-saudi-arabia-surpasses-execution-record-with-340-deaths-carried-out-in-2025/%3famp