Saudi Arabia will no longer impose limits on the number of pilgrims it allows at Hajj this year, a minister has said.
Age limits and travel restrictions are to be lifted this year, said Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq al-Rabiah.
Last year around 900,000 pilgrims were welcomed to Saudi Arabia’s holiest cities, down from around 2.5m before the pandemic.
Saudi lifts Hajj restrictions
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and is a pilgrimage every adult Muslim must make at least once in their lifetime if they have the means.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic struck an estimated 2.5m people performed Hajj in the Kingdom in 2019.
However, as restrictions were introduced to limit the possible spread of the Covid-19 virus the number of visitors allowed was greatly reduced.
Limitations meant that visitors had to be aged between 18 and 65, be vaccinated against Covid-19 and present a recent negative coronavirus test.
“The number of pilgrims will return to what it was before the pandemic, without any age limit,” Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq al-Rabiah told reporters in Riyadh.
Follow us on
