Nearly all of Malta’s swimming areas met the EU’s most stringent water quality standards last year, according to a European Environment Agency report.

Out of 87 reported bathing sites around the islands, 86 were given the top ‘excellent’ ranking. The remaining site, not identified in the report, is one ranking level below, although still above the minimum quality requirements.

Malta’s 98.9% ‘excellent’ rating in 2018 - unchanged in three years - was the second highest in Europe, only behind Cyprus.

Along with Malta and Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania and Slovenia all reported at least ‘sufficient’ quality at all their reported bathing.

The three countries with the highest numbers of poor quality bathing water sites were Italy, France and Spain.

Across Europe, just over 85% of bathing sites met the ‘excellent’ standards. An overwhelming number - 95.4% of the 21,831 bathing water sites monitored in the 28 EU states - met the minimum quality requirements.

“Our report confirms that Member States’ efforts over the last 40 years, mainly in wastewater treatment, have paid off,” EEA executive director Hans Bruyninck, said.

“Today, most Europeans enjoy excellent bathing water quality. However, this is only one of the many components, ranging from tackling plastic pollution to protecting marine life, we need to work on in order to achieve healthier seas, lakes and rivers.”