Saudi Gazette Report

RIYADH - The total number of Umrah pilgrims reached 6.499 million in 2021, with an increase of 11.61% over 2020, the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) announced in accordance with the data' results of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah for domestic and abroad Umrah pilgrims performers.

The percentage of Saudi pilgrims reached 46.7% of the total domestic pilgrims, GASTAT confirmed, while it indicated that the percentage of the abroad pilgrims reached 0.19%, and the domestic pilgrims was 99.81%.

GASTAT said that due to travel restrictions imposed in all countries during the Covid-19 pandemic, the total number of pilgrims abroad reached 12,653 pilgrims for the year 2021, recording a decrease of 99.7% from 2020.

The males represented 8110 of the pilgrims by 64.1%, while the percentage of female pilgrims was 35.9%.

The age group from 40 to 49 years recorded the highest number of pilgrims from abroad, as their number reached about 6138 pilgrims, or 48.5% of the total number of pilgrims from abroad. While the age group of 60 years and over recorded the highest number of pilgrims from abroad in 2020, amounting to 25.87.

According to the ports of entry, the pilgrims abroad were distributed according to the type of the port by air by 100%. This year, there was a difference from the previous one, as the pilgrims abroad were distributed according to the type of the air port by 93.06%.

GASTAT confirmed that King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah recorded the highest port of entry with a rate of 89.5%, from which 11,326 pilgrims entered, followed by Prince Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Airport in Madinah, through which 1,307 pilgrims entered, with a rate of 10.5%.

According to the period of the stay of the pilgrims from abroad, a two-week stay was recorded as the highest period, as the number of these pilgrims reached 8,383 with a rate of 66.3%. While the two-week stay period also recorded the highest period during 2020, as it reached 54.53%.

The number of pilgrims abroad reached its peak during the holy month of Ramadan, as the total number of pilgrims abroad reached 6,282 or 49.6%.As for the pilgrims inside, the total number reached about 6,486,810 pilgrims in 2021, with an increase of 228.5% over the year 2020.

The number of Saudi pilgrims reached 3,028,149 with a percentage of 46.7%, While the number of the non-Saudi pilgrims reached 3,458,661 or 53.3%.

The total number of male of domestic pilgrims reached 4,125,156 with a percentage of 63.6%, while the percentage of females reached 36.4%.

The number of Saudi male of domestic pilgrims reached 1,535,923 with a percentage of 23.7%, while the Saudi females reached 23% of the total Umrah performers.

The number of non-Saudi male of domestic pilgrims reached 2,589,23 or 39.9%, while the percentage of non-Saudi females reached 13.4% of the total number of pilgrims.

The age group from 30-39 years represented the highest number of domestic pilgrims in the year 2021, where it reached 2,172,580 pilgrims, or 33.5% of the total number of domestic pilgrims. The age group from 30-39 years in 2020 has also recorded the highest number of pilgrims from inside, with a percentage of 30.89%.

Makkah region recorded the highest number of domestic pilgrims in 2021, reaching 4,346,745 Umrah performers, 67% of the total domestic Umrah performers, where the Saudis represented 42.9% of the total pilgrims in the Makkah region, while the northern border region recorded the lowest in the number of pilgrims in 2021, as it reached 12,731 pilgrims, with a rate of 0.19%.

It is noteworthy that the month of Ramadan represents the most month in terms of the number of domestic pilgrims, as it reached 1,470,697, or 22.67%, and the number of Saudi Umrah pilgrims 931.478.

Saudis represented 63.33% of domestic Umrah performers during Ramadan in 2021, as the number of males reached 55.45%, while non-Saudi males of domestic Umrah performers reached 78.69%.