Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — More than 6.5 million Umrah visas have been issued since the beginning of the current Umrah season in October 2018. As of Thursday, May 2, a total of 6,571,997 visas were issued to prospective pilgrims, according to the weekly report issued by the Ministry of Haj and Umrah. During this period, a total of 5,971,775 pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom to perform Umrah, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The number of pilgrims still in the Kingdom is 486,876 pilgrims, with 339,970 pilgrims in Makkah and 146,906 in Madinah, while 5,484,458 pilgrims left the Kingdom after performance of Umrah and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. Most pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom by air with a total of 5,339,642 pilgrims while 553,536 entered by land and 78,156 pilgrims arrived via seaports.

According to the ministry, the highest number of pilgrims — 1,353,625 — came from Pakistan, and they were followed by 881,459 Indonesians, 579,443 Indians, 405,750 Egyptians, 279,038 Turkish, 267,132 Yemenis, 259,273 Malaysians, 256,295 Algerians, 219,298 Iraqis, and 167,323 Jordanians.

The ministry launched the weekly indicator to enable authorities to track the number of pilgrims coming into the Kingdom. The indicator focuses on 5 main aspects such as the number of issued visas, the total number of pilgrims arriving in the Kingdom via air, land, and seaports, number of pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah, and the number of pilgrims leaving the Kingdom after completing Umrah rituals. This initiative is one of the main aims of Saudi Vision 2030, which aspires to attract over 30 million Umrah pilgrims and provide them with excellent services.