Saudi Arabia’s Record Execution Rates Spark Global Concern Over Drug-Case Death Penalties
Kingdom’s execution tally hit a decades-high amid surge in non-violent drug-trafficking cases and foreign nationals affected
Saudi Arabia carried out at least 345 executions in 2024, the highest annual number recorded in more than three decades, and has already executed 180 people in the first half of 2025 — most of them convicted of non-violent drug offences, according to rights watchdogs.
The majority of those sentenced were foreign nationals from countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria, many of whom were exploited in drug-trafficking networks, deprived of fair trials and legal representation, and stripped of advance notice of their executions.
Between January 2014 and June 2025, Saudi officials recorded 1,816 executions, of which nearly one-third (597) were for drug-related offences — and around three-quarters of those affected were non-Saudi residents.
Human-rights organisations argue these figures contravene international norms by applying capital punishment to drug-related crimes that do not involve intentional killing.
Saudi authorities maintain they are implementing laws aimed at protecting society from narcotics.
The kingdom’s reversal of a moratorium on drug-case executions in late 2022 has been followed by an unprecedented rise in death sentences for such cases.
While the United States imposes lengthy prison terms for major drug‐trafficking offences, including roughly six to seven years on average for federal sentences, Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty even in nonlethal cases — a divergence that has drawn strong international scrutiny.
Foreign diplomats and consular services have raised special concern over fairness of trials, access to legal counsel, family notification, and disproportionate treatment of migrant workers.
In response to mounting pressure, Saudi Arabia’s allies and global institutions face calls to press for changes and greater transparency, even as the kingdom pursues its broader economic reform agenda under Vision 2030. The escalation in executions has reignited debate over the use of capital punishment for nonviolent offences and the rights of vulnerable foreign nationals in the Saudi justice system.
The majority of those sentenced were foreign nationals from countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria, many of whom were exploited in drug-trafficking networks, deprived of fair trials and legal representation, and stripped of advance notice of their executions.
Between January 2014 and June 2025, Saudi officials recorded 1,816 executions, of which nearly one-third (597) were for drug-related offences — and around three-quarters of those affected were non-Saudi residents.
Human-rights organisations argue these figures contravene international norms by applying capital punishment to drug-related crimes that do not involve intentional killing.
Saudi authorities maintain they are implementing laws aimed at protecting society from narcotics.
The kingdom’s reversal of a moratorium on drug-case executions in late 2022 has been followed by an unprecedented rise in death sentences for such cases.
While the United States imposes lengthy prison terms for major drug‐trafficking offences, including roughly six to seven years on average for federal sentences, Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty even in nonlethal cases — a divergence that has drawn strong international scrutiny.
Foreign diplomats and consular services have raised special concern over fairness of trials, access to legal counsel, family notification, and disproportionate treatment of migrant workers.
In response to mounting pressure, Saudi Arabia’s allies and global institutions face calls to press for changes and greater transparency, even as the kingdom pursues its broader economic reform agenda under Vision 2030. The escalation in executions has reignited debate over the use of capital punishment for nonviolent offences and the rights of vulnerable foreign nationals in the Saudi justice system.
