169,036 came to Malta on cruise ships in the fourth quarter of last year, an increase of 63.2 per cent over the same quarter of 2022, the National Statistics office said on Thursday.

There were 82 cruise liner calls during the same period of 2023, an increase of 21.

Total cruise passenger traffic during 2023 amounted to 814,603, an increase of 66.4 per cent over the previous year.

There were 309 cruise liner calls during 2023, an increase of 26 when compared to the previous year.

During the fourth quarter of the year, passengers from EU member states comprised 51.8 per cent of total traffic.

The major markets were Italy, accounting for 19.7 per cent of the total passengers, followed by Germany, with 9.9 per cent. The total number of passengers from Non-EU countries stood at 81,486, of whom 20.7 per cent came from the United Kingdom and 40.4 per cent came from the United States.