The Ministryof Hajj and Umrah shared a statistical report for the month of Shaban (6 Apr. –5 May. 2019) after accessing information such as the number of issued visas,footfall of pilgrims visiting the Kingdom, number of pilgrims leaving theKingdom, and number of pilgrims still in the Kingdom.
The number ofpilgrims coming into the Kingdom until the end of Shaban for the year 1440H (5May. 2019) is 6,136,139 pilgrims with an increase of 7% compared to Shaban inthe last year wherein the number of coming pilgrims reached 5,719,398.
Furthermore,the number of issued visas this year is 6,730,109 visas while last year it was6,314,448 making a difference of 6%.
Meanwhile,the number of pilgrims leaving the Kingdom this year is 5,589,537 pilgrimsmaking an increase of 5% wherein only 5,324,906 pilgrims left the Kingdomduring the same month last year.
The number ofpilgrims still in the Kingdom is 546,602 pilgrims who stayed on average inMakkah for 13 days and in Medina for 8 days. However, compared to the lastyear, the number of pilgrims who stayed in the Kingdom is 394,492 and stayed onaverage in Makkah for 9 days and in Medina for 5 days.
Most pilgrimsarrived in the Kingdom via air with a total of 5,486,345 pilgrims while 567,976entered by the land entry point and 81,818 pilgrims via seaports.
According tothe Ministry, age categories of pilgrims are as the following: 426,986 pilgrimsunder 15 years, 439,835 pilgrims are between 15-24 years, 775,937 pilgrims arebetween 25-34 years, 993,922 pilgrims are between 35-44 years, 1,197,432pilgrims are between 45-54 years, 1,293,615 pilgrims are between 55-64 years,1,008,412 pilgrims are over 65 years.
The dataprovided by the ministry also included the number of males and females. Malepilgrims are 3,190,533while female pilgrims are 3,539,576. Out of 6,730,109visas, 2,155,231 pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom with their families and4,574,878 pilgrims came into the Kingdom on their own.
The highestnumber of pilgrims of various nationalities are 1,371,544 Pakistanis, 894,571Indonesians, 595,429 Indians, 422,365 Egyptians, 292,498 Turkish, 274,109Yemenis, 266,333 Algerians, 262,109 Malaysians, 231,342 Iraqis, and 169,529Jordanians, as reported by the Ministry.
The varietyof nationalities entering the Kingdom played a role in the diversity oflanguages wherein 5 languages became top languages used in Umrah. They areUrdu, Malay, Indian, Arabic, and Turkish.
"Umrahseason is opened most of the year wherein more Muslims can visit and performUmrah rituals," announced by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
The number ofSaudi employees within Umrah companies and institutions has also marked asignificant increase of 120% this year compared to last year. This year, thereare 10,713 employees including 8,862 males and 1,851 females while in Shabanlast year was only 4,865 employees including 4,220 males and 645 females.
At thebeginning of the Hijri year 1440, the ministry launched the Umrah weeklyindicator to focus on 4 main aspects which are the number of issued visas, thetotal number of pilgrims arriving in the Kingdom via air, land, and seaports,number of pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah, and the number of pilgrims leavingthe Kingdom after completing Umrah rituals.
As for thestatistical report, it aims at enabling authorities to track the number ofpilgrims coming into the Kingdom each month of this year as well as comparingit with the numbers of each month last year, and in turn, enrich theirexperiences by providing high-quality services.
Thisinitiative is one of the main aims of Saudi Vision 2030, which aspires toattract over 30 million Umrah pilgrims and provide them with excellent servicesand an outstanding experience.
