Riyadh: This year's haj has seen 1.8 million pilgrims, the Saudi Arabian government has informed.
The pilgrims came from over 150 countries in different parts of the world.
Last year, the number of pilgrims was only around 1 million, due to Covid-19 restrictions still partially in place at that time, although they were withdrawn for other places. Haj being a place of thick gatherings, some restricions were still maintained.
The General Authority for Statistics said on Tuesday said that the number of pilgrims from Arab countries has reached more than 346,000, or 21 per cent of the total, reports Xinhua news agency.
Among the pilgrims, more than 1 million were from Asian countries, making up 63.5 per cent of the total, while nearly 223,000 others, or 13.4 per cent , came from African countries excluding the Arab nations.
More than 36,500 pilgrims travelled from Europe, the US, Australia and other unlisted countries to Saudi Arabia, representing 2.1 per cent of the total, according to the General Authority for Statistics.