Six people convicted of drug trafficking and homicide were executed in Saudi Arabia on Monday, the government said, the highest number of executions in a single day this year.

A Pakistani citizen was executed for drug trafficking and five Saudi nationals for homicide, the interior ministry said.

Monday's executions bring to 44 the number of convicts put to death this year, according to an AFP tally of government statements.

Saudi Arabia has one of the world's highest rates of execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking facing the death penalty. The kingdom is governed under a strict form of Islamic law.

Saudi Arabia reported 153 people executed last year, a number confirmed by London-based rights group Amnesty International.