Why Saudi Arabia’s execution numbers are surging in 2025

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Since the beginning of 2025, Saudi Arabia has executed 144 people for drug-related offences — representing a vast majority of the 217 people put to death this year. — AFP pic

DUBAI, July 28 — Saudi Arabia has escalated its use of capital punishment, executing more than 200 people so far this year — putting the kingdom on track to surpass last year’s record.

Experts say the surge in executions comes as the Gulf state aims to crack down on drug trafficking.

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

Saudi Arabia is on course for breaking its record of 338 people put to death last year — the highest since public records first documented the cases in the early 1990s.

Here’s a quick rundown of what to know about the death penalty’s use in Saudi Arabia.

Why the surge now? 

Since the beginning of 2025, Saudi Arabia has executed 144 people for drug-related offences — representing a vast majority of the 217 people put to death this year.

Analysts link the spike to the kingdom’s “war on drugs” launched in 2023, with many of those first arrested only now being executed following their legal proceedings and convictions.

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

It executed 19 people in 2022, two in 2023, and 117 in 2024 for narcotics-related crimes, according to an AFP tally.

Since launching its war on drugs, the country has increased the presence of police checkpoints on highways and at border crossings, where millions of pills have been confiscated and dozens of traffickers arrested.

“It’s clear that Saudi Arabia opted to double down on arrests... and harsh penalties for those perceived to be affiliated with drug trades inside Saudi Arabia,” said Caroline Rose, a senior analyst at the New Lines Institute in Washington.

Saudi officials did not respond to AFP’s questions regarding this issue.

Who is being executed? 

Foreigners are largely bearing the brunt of the campaign to date.

Saudi Arabia has long relied on millions of foreign workers to help build its vast infrastructure projects, serve as domestic help for families and staff hotels and other sectors linked to the hospitality industry.

“Foreign nationals are particularly vulnerable to due process and fair trial violations in the context of the death penalty,” said Jeed Basyouni, from the London-based rights organisation Reprieve.

So far this year, 121 foreigners have been executed — mostly for drug-linked crimes.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International lambasted the spike in executions.

“We are witnessing a truly horrifying trend, with foreign nationals being put to death at a startling rate for crimes that should never carry the death penalty,” said Kristine Beckerle, the group’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Saudis are also being executed, with three put to death in the past week after being convicted of terrorism charges.

This year, 96 Saudis have been executed out of the 217 individuals put to death.

Is it working? 

Well, it’s hard to say.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef vowed at the start of the campaign that “drug dealers and smugglers will not survive it”.

And last month, Saudi public security director Mohammed al-Bassami said the war on drugs “has achieved tangible positive results, with strong blows to drug dealers and smugglers”, according to the prominent Okaz newspaper.

However, there is little data provided to back up these claims and daily arrests continue.

“There is no evidence to substantiate the use of the death penalty as a deterrent, particularly for drug crimes,” said Reprieve’s Basyouni.

Do the executions clash with reforms? 

Saudi Arabia is spending big on tourist infrastructure and top sports events such as the 2034 World Cup as it tries to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

But activists say the kingdom’s continued embrace of capital punishment undermines the image of a more open, tolerant society that is central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Vision’s 2030 reform agenda.

Saudi authorities say the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and is only used after all avenues for appeal have been exhausted.

The kingdom drew global condemnation after the 2018 murder and dismemberment of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a government critic, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

After briefly unsettling US relations, President Donald Trump has whole-heartedly embraced Saudi Arabia and focused more on signing business deals than criticising its rulers over rights issues.

During a tour of the Gulf countries in May, Trump gushed over the crown prince saying: “I like you too much!”. — AFP