JEDDAH: More than 19 million pilgrims have performed Umrah in 2017 according to a report by Saudi Arabia’s General Statistics Authority, according to Al Ekhbariya news website.
The statistics released as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 contain numbers of pilgrims who took part in Umrah from within Saudi Arabia and abroad last year, as well as other figures based on records by the Hajj and Umrah ministry.
Through this report, the kingdom aims to establish a database on the pilgrims visiting the Kingdom to perform Umrah in a bid to help decision makers implement regulations that serve pilgrims and aid their Umrah process.
Statistics have shown that 19, 079, 306 pilgrims have carried out Umrah in 2017. Among these were 6,532,074 pilgrims who came from abroad, according to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah records.
While those who performed domestic Umrah from Saudis and non Saudis were 12,547,232, based on the authority’s survey.
The percentage of Saudi pilgrims was 46.9%, and non-Saudi pilgrims from inside the kingdom was 53.1%. The percentage of domestic Umrah pilgrims were 46.3% males and 37.7% females.
Results also have shown that the month of Ramadan is the most popular time of the year pilgrims choose to perform Umrah.
The percentage of pilgrims who carried Umrah during Ramadan last year was 53.6% of the total pilgrims.
The King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah recorded the highest percentage of pilgrims arrival from overseas, around 62.5%. While Umrah pilgrims who arrived in Emir Mohamad bin Abdel Aziz Airport in Madinah was 25.7%.
