RIYADH — More than 15.2 million people performed Umrah during Q1 2026, with internal performers accounting for around 9.5 million of the total, according to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).
The total number of Umrah performers reached 15,233,767, with males accounting for approximately 59.4 percent and females 40.6 percent. Saudi Umrah performers represented 28.9 percent of the overall total.
The number of external Umrah performers reached 5,769,271, including 2,777,904 males and 2,991,367 females, accounting for 48.2 percent and 51.9 percent, respectively.
Airports were the main entry point for external Umrah performers, accounting for 86 percent of arrivals, compared with 13.6 percent through land ports and 0.4 percent through seaports.
GASTAT’s figure showing distribution of internal Umrah performers by gender and nationality (million)
Meanwhile, the number of internal Umrah performers reached approximately 9,464,496, including 4,396,828 Saudis, or 46.5 percent, and 5,067,668 non-Saudis, representing 53.5 percent.
Male internal performers numbered approximately 6,265,810, accounting for 66.2 percent, while females totaled around 3,198,686, or 33.8 percent.
Of the internal performers, 9,026,108 performed Umrah once, while 438,388 performed it more than once, with the latter representing 4.6 percent of the total number of internal performers.
Around 75.4 percent of internal Umrah performers performed the pilgrimage with their families, while 17.2 percent performed it individually and 7.4 percent did so with friends.
By region, Makkah recorded the highest number of internal Umrah performers at 4,066,669, accounting for 43 percent of the total, followed by Riyadh with 2,026,029, or 21.4 percent.
The Northern Borders Region recorded the lowest number at 41,718, representing 0.4 percent.
For external performers, January recorded the highest monthly number at 2,237,418, accounting for 38.8 percent, while March recorded the lowest at 1,390,130.
GASTAT’s figure showing distribution of visitors to Medinah by gender and visitor type (million).
For internal performers, February recorded the highest number at 4,558,570, representing 48.2 percent of the Q1 total, while January recorded the lowest at 1,301,343.
Among external Umrah performers, those aged 55–64 accounted for the largest share at 18.8 percent, while the 0–14 age group had the lowest share at 8 percent.
Among internal performers, those aged 25–34 recorded the highest share at 25.3 percent, while those aged 65 and above represented the lowest at 2.8 percent.
The report also showed that the number of external visitors to Madinah reached 3,741,460 during the quarter, while internal visitors for religious purposes totaled 1,984,193.
Of the internal visitors to Madinah, 975,278 were Saudis, accounting for 49.2 percent, while 1,008,915 were non-Saudis, representing 50.8 percent.
Source: Saudi Gazette