ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry said on Wednesday more than 51,000 people had registered for Hajj 2027 within the first two days of the launch of a registration drive, signaling strong early demand for next year’s pilgrimage.
The registration process, which opened this week, is mandatory for Pakistanis intending to perform Hajj in 2027 under either the government or private scheme. Hajj expenses and other operational details will be announced later.
Pakistan was allocated a Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims for the 2026 pilgrimage, one of the largest national allocations in the world. Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Muhammad Yousaf has repeatedly requested Saudi authorities to increase Pakistan’s Hajj quota to around 230,000 pilgrims for 2027 so that it better reflects the country’s population. Saudi Arabia has not yet announced country quotas for Hajj 2027.
“Public response to the Hajj 2027 online registration has been encouraging, with the number of registered applicants exceeding 51,000 during the first two days,” the ministry of religious affairs said in a statement.
The ministry said more than 46,000 applicants completed registration through the online portal while around 5,000 registered through the Pak Hajj mobile application.
Of the total registrations, approximately 41,000 applicants opted for the government Hajj scheme while around 10,000 selected the private scheme.
Punjab accounted for the largest number of registrations at around 24,000, followed by Sindh with 16,000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 7,000 and Islamabad with 3,000. Balochistan recorded around 800 registrations, while Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan registered 260 and 77 applicants respectively.
The ministry said around 30,000 registered applicants were men and 21,000 were women, with people aged between 30 and 48 years making up the largest share of registrants.
Hajj operations had been made paperless and fully digitized from end to end with the support of the National Information Technology Board, the statement said.
It added that the mandatory registration drive for Hajj 2027 would continue without interruption and that pilgrimage costs and other details would be announced during the second phase of the process.
