RIYADH — As many as 7,307,356 foreign pilgrims performed Umrah during the current Umrah season, the Ministry of Haj and Umrah has said. As of Thursday, June 6, a total of 7,626,161 Umrah visas have been issued, according to the Umrah weekly indicator published by the ministry on Friday. A total of 6,405,423 Umrah performers had left the Kingdom after performing their rituals. The number of pilgrims who are still in the Kingdom is 901,933, of which 533,538 are in Makkah and 368,395 in Madinah, according to the ministry report. The overwhelming majority of Umrah pilgrims, who account for 6,470,368, arrived in the Kingdom by air while 703,478 entered by road and 133,510 arrived by sea. According to the ministry, the highest number of Umrah pilgrims were from Pakistan (1,626,080) and they were followed by 950,748 Indonesians, 645,256 Indians, 538,940 Egyptians, 365,599 Algerians, 337,812 Yemenis, 310,845 Turkish, 277,224 Malaysians, 271,290 Iraqis, and 214,270 Sudanese. The ministry launched the weekly indicator to enable authorities to track the number of Umrah performers coming into the Kingdom, and in turn, to enrich their experiences by providing high-quality services. The annual Umrah season, which began in the beginning of the Hijri year on Muharram 1 (11 Sept. 2018), will end on Shawwal 15 (June18). The Umrah season used to start in Safar, the second month of the Islamic calendar. However, last year, the ministry announced that the Umrah season for 2018-2019 has been advanced by 30 days to begin in Muharram (September) instead of Safar (October).
