Riyadh: According to official data Saudi Arabia reported an 11.61-percent rise in the number of Umrah performers in 2021, reaching 6.5 million.

With a percentage of 99.81 percent, the majority of Umrah performers perform within the country, with a total of 6.48 million. According to the General Authority for Statistics, this represents a 228.5 percent increase over the previous year.

More than 3 million Saudi residents performed Umrah in 2021, representing 46.7 percent of the total internal Umrah performers, while the 3.4 million non-Saudi Umrah performers represented the majority with 53.3 percent.

Umrah performers from abroad reached 0.19 percent in 2021, with a total of 12,653, a 99.7 percent decrease from the previous year due to worldwide travel restrictions in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Administrative Record Data of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, GASTAT that some 58,745 pilgrims conducted Hajj in the Islamic year 1442 H — 2021.

However, the Hajj was limited to the residents and citizens, especially inside the Kingdom, as COVID-19 restrictions remained.

This number is more significant than in the year 2020, in which the total number of pilgrims was below 1,000 pilgrims when worldwide travel restrictions and lockdowns limited global travel to all but the essential. 

According to Saudi government regulations on the organizational procedures for Hajj in 2021, the total number of Saudi pilgrims reached 33,034 pilgrims of both genders, without children’s participation in performing rituals.

Moreover, the percentile of the male pilgrims was reached 50.7 percent of the total Saudi pilgrims. In comparison, the percentage of female pilgrims reached 49.3 percent, the Administrative Record Data issued by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah revealed. 

According to the Administrative Record Data issued by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, the total number of non-Saudi pilgrims residing in the Kingdom reached 25,711, with 62.9 percent of them being males and 37.1 percent being females.