The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced the suspension of issuing visas for Umrah for this season, due to the very large increase in the number of pilgrims, and these are some numbers that explain the extent of that increase, along with some interesting information:
- 6.4 million Umrah visas were issued for this year, while 5.9 million were issued last year.
- Most countries in terms of the number of pilgrims who obtained Umrah visas during the month of Ramadan are Egypt, at one million and 304,000 pilgrims.
- Pakistan came second with 991 thousand pilgrims.
- While Indonesia ranked third with 700 thousand pilgrims.
- The number of Umrah pilgrims this year increased by 7% over last year.
- An economic study expected that the total Umrah revenue would reach 45 riyals for this year.
- The average annual disbursement of Umrah pilgrims is approximately 7,000 riyals, divided between residence, housing, transportation, food, gifts and personal expenses.
