Saudi authorities executed 356 people in 2025, according to an AFP tally, setting a new record for the number of inmates put to death in the kingdom in a single year.

Analysts have largely attributed the surge in executions to Riyadh’s ongoing “war on drugs” launched in recent years — with many of those first arrested only now being executed, following legal proceedings and convictions.

Official data released by the government said 243 people were executed in drug-related cases in 2025 alone, according to AFP’s tally.

The figures from 2025 mark the second consecutive year Saudi Arabia has set a new record for executions, after authorities executed 338 people in 2024.

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

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