Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The total number of foreign and domestic pilgrims, who performed Umrah, reached 6,254,751 during the third quarter of 2024, representing a 35 percent increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. This was revealed in the Umrah Statistics Report, published by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) on Sunday.

Male pilgrims accounted for 57.4 percent of the total pilgrims while females constituted 42.6 percent of the total pilgrims. Saudi nationals made up 10.7 percent of all Umrah pilgrims during this quarter. The report indicated that the total number of foreign Umrah performers stood at 3,348,512, recording a 29.2 percent increase compared to the third quarter of 2023. Among them, males accounted for 51percent with 1,707,514 pilgrims and females made up 49 percent with 1,638,743 pilgrims.

Total number of domestic Umrah pilgrims reached 2,906,239 in the third quarter of 2024, marking a 42.4 percent increase compared to Q3 2023. Among them, Saudi nationals stood at 671,729, representing 23.1percent, while non-Saudis accounted for 2,234,510, making up 76.9 percent. Male domestic pilgrims totaled 1,883,199, representing 64.8 percent while females accounted for 1,023,040, making up 35.2 percent.

The report highlighted that among foreign Umrah pilgrims, the highest proportion was aged 35–44 with 17.6 percent, while the lowest proportion was over 65 years old with 9.2 percent. Similarly, the largest group among domestic pilgrims was aged 30–39, with 29.2 percent.

A total of 2,295,747 domestic pilgrims performed the Umrah rituals during the quarter, with males representing 64 percent and females 36 percent. August recorded the highest number of single-time Umrah performers from within the Kingdom, accounting for 40.1 percent of the total pilgrims.

The report also shed light on visa types for foreign pilgrims in Q3 2024. Among them, 60.8 percent arrived with Umrah visas, 29.7 percent with other types of visas, 6.6 percent with electronic visit visas, and 2.9 percent with Gulf visas.