As Hajj approaches this year and the chants of Labbaik fill the air, many fortunate Muslims among us will be turning their attention to the logistics and emotions of preparing for what is certainly the journey of a lifetime.

However, it’s hard not to notice that Hajj gets more expensive with each passing year. In this article, we’re tracing the rise in costs and the number of pilgrims over the past two decades, from 2005 to 2025.

The Price of Pilgrimage: Then and Now

2005

In 2005, Hajj packages typically cost between £2,000 and £3,000, depending on duration and accommodation. This included flights, accommodation in Makkah and Madinah, food, and basic transport during the days of Hajj. 

2013–2018

A University of Leeds study found that Hajj package prices rose 25% in this period. This means that the average highest price went from £4,472 in 2013–14 to £6000 in 2017–18.

In fact, according to this article, the average pilgrimage price from UK-based operators in 2015 was said to range from £5700 to £7000.

2025

Current Hajj packages from UK operators vary widely, particularly depending on whether quad-sharing options are included.

• Budget: Starting from £4,685, these packages include 16 days of travel, indirect flights and shared rooms.
• Mid-range: Starting from £6,000 and going up to £9,000, often with 12–17 day trips, 3 or 4-star hotels, shared rooms, and mixed flight options.
• Luxury: The sky is the limit! These packages often start at £12,000 and can even be in the excess of £15,000+, offering private rooms, VIP tent access and 5-star accommodation close to the Haram.
  

There’ve been a number of reasons behind prices skyrocketing. After Covid restrictions were lifted, global inflation played a huge part, as Saudi Arabia’s VAT increase, which jumped from 5% to 15% in 2020. This has now been made worse by ongoing economic crises across the world. According to the Associated Press, the rising costs were so high that some countries even struggled to fill their visa allocations in 2023, something that’s quite rare, since usually the demand has been much higher than the number of visas available.

Number of Pilgrims Over the Years

Despite rising costs over the years, pilgrim numbers grew significantly and peaked in the mid-2000s. From 2013, the Saudi government slashed quotas by 20% to accommodate the expansion of facilities at Masjid al Haram in Makkah. The quota system is based on 1000 pilgrims per million of a country’s Muslim population in an effort to offer as many people as possible a fair chance to perform Hajj. 

• 2005: Around 2.5 million pilgrims performed the Hajj.
• 2015: Although numbers dipped slightly to 1.95 million, it was a tragic year. A crane collapse in the Grand Mosque killed at least 111 people, and a deadly stampede in Mina during the stoning ritual took the lives of 717 pilgrims.
• 2025: An estimated 1.8 million foreign pilgrims are expected to perform the Hajj.

The Rise of the Muslim Women Pilgrims

Over the years, different rulings around mahram requirements have had a noticeable impact on women’s participation in Hajj. Traditionally, a major deterrent for many Muslim women was their dependence on a male mahram to accompany them, especially those who were widowed, unmarried, or whose male relatives were unable to travel. 

But in 2018, the Government of India introduced the Lady Without Mehram (LWM) category, allowing women aged 45 and above to apply for Hajj in groups of four, even without a mahram. Since then, there’s been a clear push to encourage more women to apply under this category. In 2023, a historical high of more than 4,000 women successfully applied under LWM.

In countries like Indonesia, where different mahram systems exist, women now outnumber men among pilgrims. Since 2011, Indonesia has sent 1.3 female pilgrims for 1 male, and in 2016, 55.3% of Indonesian pilgrims were women.

Women often bring their friends, sisters, cousins, colleagues, or mothers with them, forming groups and encouraging each other to go. 

These policy shifts have opened the door for women to take on the pilgrimage in new ways. According to official figures, a total of 1,833,164 pilgrims performed Hajj in 2024, of which 221,854 were internal pilgrims (12.1%) and 1,611,310 were external pilgrims (87.9%). Among internal pilgrims, 53.5% were men and 46.5% were women, while external pilgrims were 52.1% men and 47.9% women, indicating a growing gender balance in participation.

Behind the Scenes: The People Who Make Hajj Possible

Every year, more than 200 major general Hajj services are mobilised to support millions of pilgrims over a short period of time. From managing electricity to water supplies, overseeing security, health and transport services, to offering religious guidance for millions, an extraordinary network of people work tirelessly round the clock to ensure Hajj runs smoothly and safely.   

• 16,000 telecommunication towers and 3000 WiFi access points were installed by 2018
• Approximately 8 million copies of the Quran are handed out each year
• That same year, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity held a global hackathon to solve logistical problems that arise during Hajj. The winner was an all-female Saudi-Arabian team that created an app for translating signs around Makkah without the internet to avoid confusion, and hopefully reduce the chances of stampedes
• The number of equipment and machinery used for these services reached 62,050 pieces in 2019
• 7,727 vehicles, 2,640 motorcycles, 14,498 wireless devices, and 5,337 computers were used in 2019
• In 2022 alone, the pilgrim service sector had a total labour force of 236,897 people, including supervision, public services, health, transportation, and telecommunications services
• There were 6 slaughterhouses where 443,102 animals were sacrificed
•  7,246 butchers worked in these six slaughterhouses

Who Gets to Go, and Why Quotas Matter

The percentage of Muslims performing Hajj each year is still tiny, less than 0.13% of the global Ummah. Saudi Arabia assigns Hajj pilgrimage slots called quotas on a country-by-country basis according to the average size of the resident Muslim population. The more resident Muslims in a country, the more slots that country is likely to get. Quotas are calculated for Muslim-majority countries at a rate of one pilgrim visa per 1,000 Muslim citizens. 

The following numbers show how many Hajj visas were allocated to each country in 2023. These figures only cover foreign pilgrims, so they don’t include those living in Saudi Arabia.

1. Indonesia – 229,000
2. Pakistan – 179,210
3. India – 175,025
4. Bangladesh – 127,198
5. Nigeria – 95,000
6. Iran – 87,550
7. Algeria – 41,300
8. Turkey – 37,770

However, other factors can also affect how many slots a country may receive. For instance, a fairly high number of Muslims live in Iran. However, the political relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia remains tense, resulting in a lower designated quota than might otherwise be expected.

Although Hajj quotas always vary from year to year, they remain essential for several important reasons. To begin with, assigning a quota to each country helps facilitate fairness, as each Muslim is encouraged to make this pilgrimage at some point during their lifetime, regardless of where they live.

The quotas also help ensure each year’s Hajj pilgrims are able to make their journey safely. Quotas help prevent the possibility of overcrowding, as well as limit the likelihood that extenuating political factors might cause problems for either the pilgrims or for Saudi Arabia.

The general idea is to welcome as many pilgrims as possible while also managing the logistics of allowing hundreds of thousands of people to flow into and out of Makkah during a short period of time.

For many people, the ability to perform Hajj is not just about money. It’s about war, borders, visas, health, caretaking responsibilities, and political realities. The majority of Russian Muslims were barred from Hajj due to Communist-era restrictions from 1945 to 1953. Even now, visa caps and foreign policies can exclude entire populations. Many Palestinians, Uyghurs, and others face impossible obstacles to their Hajj plans.

Hajj Quotas 2025

The top five countries with highest quotes for 2025 are:

1. Indonesia – 221,000
2. Pakistan – 180,000
3. India – 175,025
4. Bangladesh – 127,198
5. Nigeria – 95,000

Six countries with the lowest quotas for 2025 are:

1. Venezuela – 91
2. Republic of South Sudan – 616
3. Spain – 970
4. Sweden – 1182
5. Italy – 1351
6. Canada – 1951

The Future of Hajj

Hajj is more than a pilgrimage now, it is a key source of income for Saudi Arabia as it generates an estimated $12 billion per year for the country. As part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 roadmap to diversify its income streams and to become less dependent on oil, Saudi Arabia has plans to boost its numbers of religious tourist arrivals for both the Hajj and the Umrah to 30 million pilgrims by 2030. Since Umrah can be performed throughout the year, unlike Hajj, the ongoing Haram expansion and rise in services and hotels is also geared towards boosting year-round spending on things like food, travel and accommodation.

Still, hosting millions of people during the Hajj season—come rain or shine—remains a monumental task. And the challenges keep growing, like the steadily rising temperatures. Officials predict that this year, pilgrims can expect to see average highs of 44 degrees Celsius, or 111 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists warn that if climate conditions worsen, the current mitigation tactics of misting systems and heat-reflective road coverings by the Saudi government may not be enough.

Add to that the cost of living crisis, and so far, it seems pilgrim numbers may likely stay around the 2 million mark, at least for the next few years.

From around 399,000 pilgrims in 1970 to nearly 1.84 million in 2024, the Hajj journey has come a long way. The increase is partly due to how much easier international travel has become, and a streamlined process offered by the Saudi government and international tour operators and travel agencies. Many more Muslims also intentionally save up for years to be able to make the journey.

Social media adds its own kind of motivation, such as posts of ihram selfies, Haram hotel views, and wholesome videos of families fulfilling their spiritual obligation together, creating a digital culture of longing and religious aspiration. It could also be that since COVID-19 severely restricted the Hajj in 2020 and 2021, many people who delayed now feel an urgency to perform it, even if prices have doubled.

In the past two decades, Makkah and Madinah have seen a surge in high-end developments, five-star hotels, mega-malls like the Abraj Al Bait complex, and residential towers encircling the Haram. The old neighbourhoods where local families once lived for generations have been bulldozed to make way for commercial expansion. Many heritage sites and historical homes tied to the Prophet ﷺ’s life have been demolished or repurposed. Luxury hotel chains with suites that offer direct Ka’bah views, for thousands of Saudi riyals per night during Hajj, flank the Haram now. 

High-end malls have pushed out small business owners, and food courts filled with fast food and overpriced coffee chains have replaced once-common street vendors, making every aspect of the pilgrimage a costly undertaking. The rising cost of Hajj for pilgrims, estimated to amount to between £4300 and £14,000 per person, depending on their location of origin, is making the journey unaffordable to many.

For Muslims around the world, the rising cost of Hajj has sparked conversations about class, access, and priorities. While many are grateful for the improved safety and comfort, others grieve the loss of simplicity and affordability.

No matter the price tag or the backdrop of glass skyscrapers, Hajj remains deeply spiritual for many Muslims. For a ritual meant to strip us of worldly signs of success, such as wealth, race, and power, it is also true that many can’t afford to come and be a part of this experience. However, there’s a mercy here we often forget.

Allah ﷻ says in the Qur’an, “Pilgrimage to this House is an obligation by Allah upon whoever is able among the people.” (Surah Ali ‘Imran 3:97)

The condition is clear: if you are able to.

The above ayah offers relief. It reminds us that Hajj is fard only for those who are truly able. That Allah sees our struggles, and that intention, longing, and prayer still count for something. Perhaps for everything. 

So as we watch prices climb and towers rise, we hold on to His mercy. And we remember: the path to Allah is not paved in marble. It is made of sincerity. And the belief that even if there are a thousand and one obstacles in our path, as soon as we receive the Divine Invitation, we will come—from Bradford to Beijing, Dhaka to Damascus—driven by a lifelong dream of responding to the divine call: “Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik.”

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References:

• University of Leeds Hajj Research
• Number of Pilgrims Over the Years
• The Growth of Hajj Pilgrims: 1970-2024 | A Historical Journey
• LWM category for Hajj
• Indonesia Sends More Women than Men to Hajj
• Where do Non Domestic Pilgrims Come from
• Hajj Statistics
• The Economics of Hajj