The kingdom makes an estimated $12 billion a year from the hajj and year-round umrah pilgrimages. The hajj is a major revenue-earner for Saudi Arabia, which is trying to pivot its oil-reliant economy in new directions including tourism. The overwhelming majority of the 1.8 million pilgrims - more than 1.6 million - are foreigners, coming from about 160 countries. This year's attendance figure, announced by Saudi officials on Tuesday, falls well short of their predictions of beating the 2019 record, possibly because of the heat or the cost, at around $5,000 per person just to attend. In Mina, some sought shelter from the sun by lying under parked trucks, while civil defence volunteers inspected tents to check on pilgrims. Temperatures peaked at 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, when the pilgrims prayed for hours at Mount Arafat. About 2.5 million, the most on record, joined the pilgrimage in pre-pandemic 2019.Īs well as crowds at every turn, the visitors have had to contend with ferocious temperatures at the hajj, which currently coincides with the Saudi summer.
More than 1.8 million people are taking part in the first unrestricted hajj since Covid struck in 2020. Vast crowds of worshippers hurled pebbles in the "stoning of the devil" ritual Wednesday as the biggest hajj pilgrimage since the Covid pandemic draws to a close in Saudi Arabia.įrom dawn in Mina, hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims began pelting three concrete monoliths representing Satan under soaring temperatures before heading to Mecca for a final "tawaf" - circling the Kaaba, the giant black cube at the Grand Mosque.
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