Number of tourists up 13.5% in first six months of year – NSO

Inbound tourists for the first six months of 2025 amounted to 1,805,730, an increase of 13.5 per cent over the same period in 2024. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 13.2 per cent, almost reaching 10.7 million nights, the NSO said Wednesday.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €1,564.1 million, 21.1 per cent higher than that recorded for the same period in 2024. Total expenditure per capita increased to €866 from €812 in 2024.

The number of tourists visiting Gozo and Comino, including both same-day and overnight visitors, totalled 988,087, or 54.7 per cent of total tourists.

June 2025

Total inbound tourists for June 2025 were estimated at 386,776, an increase of 10.8 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2024.

During the month under review, a total of 357,834 inbound tourists visited Malta for holiday purposes, and 19,437 tourists came for business purposes. The largest share of inbound tourists consisted of persons 25 and 44 (35.3 per cent), followed by the 45-64 age bracket (27.4 per cent). British, Italian, and French residents made up 43.6 per cent of total inbound tourists.

Total nights spent went up by 8.6 per cent when compared to June 2024, almost reaching 2.5 million nights. The largest share of guest nights (89.8 per cent) was spent in rented accommodation establishments. The average length of stay of total inbound tourists stood at 6.4 nights.

Total tourist expenditure almost reached €395.9 million, an increase of 19.1 per cent over the corresponding month in 2024. The average expenditure per night was estimated at €159.5.

The number of tourists visiting Gozo and Comino, including both same-day and overnight visitors, totalled 239,332, or 61.9 per cent of total tourists.

MTA reaction

The NSO inbound tourism statistics, published today for the month of June 2025, confirm the success of the Malta Tourism Authority’s vision and strategy that aim for a higher rate of industry growth in the winter and shoulder months of the year, the spread of the benefits of tourism all year round, the continued diversification of tourism source markets, both from European short haul countries as well as from more distant markets in North America, Latin America, Asia and Australia, while always focused to attract a higher yielding type of tourism to the Maltese Islands, the MTA said.

Expenditure by tourists visiting Malta and Gozo in the month of June reached nearly 396 million euros, an increase of 19.1% when compared to the same 6 months in the record year of 2024, nearly double the rate of the 10.8% increase in visiting tourist numbers. This positive trend of a higher rate of growth in tourism expenditure versus the increase in visiting tourists has been consistent across the first half of the year, with an increase in tourism expenditure of 21% surpassing €1,564,000 as against an increase in the number of tourists of 13.5%.

The biggest number of tourists visiting Malta and Gozo in the first 6 months were between 25 and 44 years of age, 661,391 pax, followed by those of age 45 – 64, totalling 583,255 pax, in third place with 345,850 pax are those of age 0-24 and the final age demographic are those 65+ with 215,234 tourists. The highest rate of growth has been registered on the 65+ age group with plus 25.2%, followed by those 45-64 years of age at plus 18.3%. The slowest rate of growth is in the 0-24 years cohort with plus 5.8%

Average length of stay has remained stable at just under 6 nights with an increase of 14.4% in those staying more than 7 nights in our Islands.

These results confirm that the Malta Tourism Authority, with the full support of the industry stakeholders, and the policy direction of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Foreign Affairs Dr Ian Borg, is well on course with the plan of revitalisation of Malta’s tourism industry, to ensure the long term sustainability and profitability of tourism as a key contributor to Malta’s economy for many years to come, said Carlo Micallef, CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority.