Hajj attendance falls to 30-year low excluding Covid-19 pandemic period
Authorities did not immediately offer an explanation for the low turnout.
A pilgrim receives water to cool himself (Amr Nabil/AP)
It is almost 160,000 fewer pilgrims than last year and a far cry from the pre-pandemic boom, when attendance would regularly push past two million.
There was a record-breaking Hajj in 2012, when more than 3.16 million Muslims took part.
The kingdom ran a pared-down pilgrimage during the Covid-19 pandemic, sharply reducing the scale of the Hajj between 2020 and 2022 while still allowing a small number of the faithful to take part in the annual event.
The Hajj in 2023 was the first to be held without restrictions since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
At the Hajj, Muslims gather in Saudi Arabia to unite in religious rituals and acts of worship as they fulfil one of the Five Pillars of Islam, a religious obligation.
It can be the spiritual experience of a lifetime for them and a chance to seek God's forgiveness and the erasure of past sins.
But inflation and economic crises around the world are putting the Hajj out of reach for some.
Excess heat and tougher rules for entry may also have deterred potential pilgrims from heading to Saudi Arabia this year.
Earlier on Thursday, pilgrims gathered in Arafat to spend hours in worship and contemplation.
The rocky hill holds immense significance in Islam.
Arafat is mentioned in the Koran and it is where the Prophet Mohammed is said to have given his last sermon on his final Hajj.
On Friday, pilgrims will head to the vast tent city of Mina to carry out the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual by throwing pebbles at pillars.
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