Saudi Arabia beheaded a convicted Syrian drug smuggler on Tuesday, bringing to 27 the number of executions in the kingdom this year.

Authorities carried out the sentence against Abdullah Mohammed al-Ahmad al-Anzi for trafficking amphetamine pills, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

He was executed in northwestern Jawf region.

The government says it is keen to combat narcotics due to their "great harm" but the kingdom has faced constant international criticism over its human rights record, including its use of the death penalty.

Anzi was the latest of 27 foreigners and Saudis executed this year, according to an AFP tally.

The Gulf nation executed 87 people last year, up from 78 in 2013, AFP's tally showed.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law.