VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta welcomed a record 3,160,974 inbound tourists between January and August 2026, an increase of 17.9% over the same period last year, according to figures released by the National Statistics Office.
Arrivals in August alone reached 539,655, up 14.7% year on year, while nights spent rose 9.9% to 3.8 million. Tourist expenditure increased 14.9% to €629.3 million, with average spending estimated at €165.5 per night.
Despite the rise in arrivals, expenditure per tourist for the first eight months fell to €937, from €956 in 2025.
The average length of stay also declined to 5.93 nights, compared with 6.30 in 2025 and 6.39 in 2024. In August, visitors stayed an average of seven nights.
Poland recorded the strongest growth among major markets, with 370,690 arrivals, up 50.2%, while Romania recorded a 50.5% increase to 63,941.
The UK remained Malta’s largest non-EU market, with 644,257 arrivals, an increase of 17.9%. Arrivals from France fell 7.2% to 195,896, while nights spent by French tourists declined 14.1%.
Non-EU arrivals grew by 21.1% in August, compared with 11.7% for EU markets and 7.1% for the euro area.
The figures come amid debate over the impact of rising visitor numbers on Malta’s infrastructure and environment. The country recorded 4.02 million arrivals in 2025, while the government’s Vision 2050 strategy targets 4.5 million annually by 2035.
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has previously warned of a potential “saturation point”, while the Malta Chamber of Commerce has called for a shift from volume towards higher-value tourism.
-Photo IPA Agency-
(ITALPRESS).
