Saudi Arabia has received more than 4.3 million Umrah pilgrims until Thursday, according to weekly statistics made available by the Ministry of Haj and Umrah. The ministry also said the Kingdom issued 4.8 million visas for prospective Umrah pilgrims this season. In its weekly indicator released on Thursday after accessing information such as the number of visas issued, the arrival of pilgrims in the Kingdom via air, land and sea and the number of pilgrims present in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, the ministry said 3.8 million of these pilgrims left the Kingdom after performing the Umrah rituals and visiting the Prophet›s Mosque in Madinah. As of Thursday, 438,731 pilgrims remained in the Kingdom, with 308,050 of them in Makkah and 130,681 in Madinah. According to the ministry, Pakistan sent the largest number of pilgrims with 1,031,253 of them coming to perform Umrah until Thursday. They were followed by 695,103 Indonesians, 435,746 Indians, 240,708 Egyptians, 219,729 Turkish, 214,931 Yemenis, 213,209 Malaysians, 160,759 Algerians, 121,262 Jordanians, and 116,154 Iraqis. The weekly indicator was launched at the beginning of the current Hijri year to enable the authorities to track the number of pilgrims coming into the Kingdom, and in turn, enrich their experiences by providing high-quality services. The initiative was among the main objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, which aspires to facilitate Umrah travel for over 30 million Muslims annually by 2030 and provide them with excellent services. — SG
