Shafaqna English– The 2025 Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, attended by only 1.67 million people, has become the least-crowded Hajj in the past three decades—excluding the years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Shafaqna, official statistics released by Saudi Ministry of Hajj on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) confirmed the attendance figure of 1.67 million pilgrims. However, no official explanation was provided for this significant decline.
While over 1.8 million pilgrims took part in the Hajj last year, this year’s numbers saw a drop of nearly 160,000. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Hajj pilgrims consistently exceeded 2 million.
As reported by the Associated Press, a record number of pilgrims attended in 2012, with over 3.16 million Muslims traveling to Makkah that year. However, from 2020 to 2022, Saudi Arabia imposed strict limitations on attendance due to the coronavirus outbreak, allowing only a small group of pilgrims to participate.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s recent efforts to improve and expand Hajj services through technological initiatives and large-scale investments, the sharp decline in 2025 has raised questions. Some analysts suggest that economic factors, visa issuance restrictions, or political instability in certain countries may have contributed to the drop.
Although many expected the number of pilgrims to return to pre-pandemic levels, this year’s figures indicate that a full return to normalcy has yet to be achieved.
According to Saudi Arabia’s official statistics, of the total number of pilgrims, over 1.5 million were international pilgrims from various countries around the world. More than 166,000 were domestic pilgrims, including Saudi citizens and residents.
Air travel remained the most popular mode of entry for international pilgrims. Official data shows that 1.4 million pilgrims entered Saudi Arabia via international airports. Additionally, over 66,000 pilgrims arrived through land borders, and more than 5,000 came by sea. This year’s Hajj saw the participation of pilgrims from 171 different countries.