During the peak tourism month of August in 2024, the effective population increased by an additional 80,701 tourists reaching 649,546, the National Statistics Office has said.
“In 2024, the usual resident mid-year population was estimated at 568,845. When accounting for the presence of tourists, on average over the entire year, this increased by 46,918, reaching an effective population of 615,763. Due to the seasonal nature of tourism, the effective population fluctuates on a monthly basis.”
“While keeping the resident population count constant to the value of the mid-year estimate, during the lowest tourism month (December), the effective population stood at 581,720 (12,875 tourists).
The impact of the tourist population on the resident population can be expressed in terms of tourism intensity.
“Tourism intensity is here defined as the ratio of nights spent at all forms of tourist accommodation per 100 residents per day. Annual tourism intensity was 8.2 in 2024, meaning that for every 100 residents there were approximately eight tourists. This is an increase of one tourist for every 100 residents when compared to 2023,” the NSO said.
“Seasonality has a marked impact on tourism intensity. In 2024, tourism intensity reached 14.2 in August, while in December it was 2.3. This means that in the peak tourism month there were nearly 12 more tourists per 100 residents compared to the month with the least tourism (December).”
“Apart from varying seasonally, tourism intensity also varied geographically. The Northern Harbour district was the largest district in terms of the mid-year resident population and had the largest average annual tourist population. In turn, it had the largest effective population in 2024. When considering tourism intensity however, the Northern district surpassed the Northern Harbour district at a value of 14.8 compared to 13.7, meaning that there was approximately one more tourist per 100 residents in the Northern district compared to the Northern Harbour district.”
Geographical variations become more pronounced when analysing tourism intensity at the locality level. St Julian’s had the highest tourism intensity in 2024 with almost 80 tourists for every 100 residents (79.9), this was followed by Valletta (69.4), the NSO said.
“When comparing to the previous year, Valletta had the largest increase in terms of tourism intensity, from 53.5 to 69.4. This means that, in Valletta, in 2024 there were nearly 16 more tourists for every 100 residents compared to 2023.”
The impact of the tourist population can also be measured in terms of the size of the geographical area, it said.
“Population density measures the number of persons per kilometre squared and the impact of tourism on population density can be assessed by calculating density using the effective population. The total mid-year resident population density in 2024 was 1,806 residents per kilometre squared. When considering the average annual tourist population this increased to 1,954 persons per kilometre squared.”
“At the district level the most pronounced impact is seen in the Northern Harbour district. The mid-year resident population density in 2024 was 7,503 residents per kilometre squared, when considering the average number of tourists in 2024 in this district, this increased by slightly over 1,000 persons for every kilometre squared, reaching 8,527.”
Among localities experiencing the highest tourism volumes, population density increased notably when considering the tourist population, the NSO said. “The resident mid-year population density in Sliema in 2024 was 17,148 residents per kilometre squared, this increased to 23,929 persons per kilometre squared when accounting for the average annual tourism population in the locality. While St Julian’s had a lower effective population density value compared to Sliema in 2024 (16,450), it had the largest increase in absolute terms when considering the number of additional persons per kilometre squared – 7,308 persons.”
Seasonal differences in the top tourism localities
During the peak month of August, St Julian’s had the highest tourism intensity, reaching 126.4 tourists for every 100 residents, a slight decrease compared to 2023. Valletta followed with a tourism intensity of 82, an increase of 5.5 over the previous year, the NSO said.
In terms of effective population during the peak month, St Paul’s Bay estimate stood at 58,155, followed by Sliema with 35,476, increases of 12.9% and 4.7% over 2023, respectively. In the low tourism month of December, tourism intensity was highest in Valletta, though considerably lower than the value seen in August (49.5), the NSO said.
Population density in the peak tourism month of August increases considerably in localities experiencing high tourism volumes, it said. “Sliema had the highest population density in 2024 when considering the tourist and resident population at 27,374 persons per kilometre squared. This is an increase of over 10,000 people per kilometre squared on top of the resident population. While the overall effective population density in August was lower in St Julian’s than in Sliema, the increase in density was larger, with an additional 11,553 persons per kilometre squared. Population density remained the highest in Sliema in the low tourism month of December though the increase in population density when accounting for tourists was approximately three times less than in August.”
