By our Correspondents
* Figure increases by 2% from 2025, with male pilgrims accounting for 52.3 percent of total attendance
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) has announced that a total of 1,707,301 pilgrims performed the 1447 AH (2026) Hajj pilgrimage, comprising both male and female pilgrims who participated in the annual rites in Makkah and across the holy sites.
According to the official figures released on Tuesday, international pilgrims accounted for 90.6 percent of the total Hajj population, with 1,546,655 pilgrims arriving from outside the Kingdom, while domestic pilgrims made up 9.4 percent, representing 160,646 Saudi citizens and residents who performed Hajj this year.
A gender breakdown released by the authority showed that male pilgrims accounted for 52.3 percent of the total, with 893,396 pilgrims, while female pilgrims made up 47.7 percent, representing 813,905 pilgrims.
Among international pilgrims, GASTAT said the vast majority arrived by air, with 96.1 percent (1,485,729 pilgrims) entering Saudi Arabia through airports.
Another 3.5 percent (54,429 pilgrims) arrived by road, while 0.4 percent (6,497 pilgrims) came by sea.
The statistics further showed that international pilgrims this year came from 165 nationalities, including Nigeria, with over 50,000 pilgrims, underscoring the global nature of the annual Islamic pilgrimage.
Saudi authorities also disclosed that 22.8 percent of all pilgrims (388,694 pilgrims) benefited from the Makkah Route Initiative, a pre-travel immigration and facilitation programme designed to ease pilgrims’ entry into the Kingdom.
In supporting the Hajj operation, a total of 441,049 workers were deployed across the holy sites, while 26,701 volunteers participated in various service roles during the pilgrimage.
GASTAT, which is responsible for producing the official Hajj census each year, said the 2026 figure represents the verified total population of pilgrims for the current season.
The figure reflects a 2 percent increase compared to the 1,673,230 pilgrims recorded during the 2025 Hajj season.
Year-on-year comparison
2024 (1445 AH): 1,833,164 pilgrims
2025 (1446 AH): 1,673,230 pilgrims (8.7 percent decline)
2026 (1447 AH): 1,707,301 pilgrims (2 percent increase)
The data shows a sharp drop between 2024 and 2025, followed by a modest recovery in 2026.
GASTAT said the annual pilgrim census serves as an official benchmark for Hajj planning, crowd management, logistics, and service delivery during one of the world’s largest religious gatherings.
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