This number dwarfs the 67 executions reported in the kingdom for all of 2021 and 27 executions in 2020.
“These individuals, 81 in total, were convicted of various crimes, including the murder of innocent men, women and children,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
“The crimes committed by these individuals also include swearing allegiance to foreign terrorist organizations such as ISIS (Islamic State), Al-Qaeda and the Houthis,” the statement said.
Some traveled to conflict zones to join “terrorist organizations,” the statement said.
The ministry did not say how the executions were carried out.
The men included 37 Saudi nationals who were found guilty in one case of attempting to kill security personnel and attacking police stations and convoys, the ministry added.
In 1980, the kingdom executed 63 people in one day, a year after militants took over the Grand Mosque in Mecca, according to state media reports.
In just one day in 2016, 47 people were executed, including prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Human rights groups have accused Saudi Arabia of enforcing restrictive laws on political and religious expression and have criticized it for using the death penalty, including on defendants arrested when they were minors.
Saudi Arabia denies allegations of human rights violations and says it is protecting its national security in accordance with its laws.
SPA, Saudi Arabia’s state news agency, said the defendants were given the right to counsel and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the trial.