Drop in number of cruise passengers in second quarter – NSO

Total cruise passenger traffic during the second quarter of 2025 amounted to 256,326, a decrease of 6.4 per cent over the same quarter of last year, the NSO said Wednesday.

There were 123 cruise liner calls during the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of 5 when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Transit passengers accounted for the absolute majority of total traffic, reaching 210,567 (82.1 per cent). On average, every vessel that berthed in Malta carried 2,084 passengers, 56 less than the previous year. 

Passengers from EU Member States comprised 39.3 per cent of total traffic. The major markets were Italy, accounting for 11.5 per cent of the total passengers, followed by Germany, with 7.7 per cent. The total number of passengers from non-EU countries stood at 155,476, of whom 37.0 per cent came from the United Kingdom and 33.1 per cent came from the United States.

On a gender basis, female passengers made up 54.7 per cent of the total. The largest share of passengers fell within the 60-79 age bracket (41.4 per cent) and were followed by those aged between 40 and 59 years (28.3 per cent).

January-June 2025

During the first half of 2025, total cruise passengers stood at 340,923. Of these, 43.6 per cent came from EU Member States.

The majority of the passengers were females amounting to 180,904 or 53.1 per cent of the total. Most passengers were between 60 and 79 years old, totalling 130,376 (38.2 per cent). These were followed by passengers aged 40-59 years, reaching 98,493 (28.9 per cent).

There were 154 cruise liner calls during the first two quarters of the year, with an average of 2,214 passengers per vessel, compared to 147 calls and an average of 2,384 passengers per vessel in the comparitive period of 2024.