There was a major drop in expatriates who performed Haj this year as domestic pilgrims, according to statistics released recently by the government.

This was a result of the crackdown on domestic pilgrims without Haj permits, which included the introduction of fingerprinting in Makkah and the holy sites. The increased cost for domestic Haj pilgrims also contributed to the reduction.

The statistics were compiled at entry points to Makkah.

This year, 44,347 Egyptian expatriates performed Haj, down from 259,736 last year. This was 34.1 percent of all expatriate pilgrims during this year’s Haj.

A total of 30,457 Pakistanis performed Haj this year as domestic pilgrims, down from 205,685 last year. This was 23.4 percent of the total.

Only 10,947 Indian expatriates, including 1,669 women, performed Haj this year, compared to 78,100 last year.

The other expatriate pilgrims included 10,439 Yemenis, 8,296 Indonesians, 5,966 Bangladeshis, 5,581 Sudanese, 2,810 Syrians, 881 Ethiopians, 649 Filipinos and 243 Americans, according to the report.