The number of cruise passengers that landed in Malta during the first quarter of 2022 is more than triple that of last year, according to national data.

However, the figures are still lower than those of pre-pandemic times.

According to National Statistics Office data published on Monday, there were 25,200 cruise passengers who stopped by or left on a ship from here during the first three months of the year.

This compares to just 7,966 in 2021 and 40,175 in 2020.

In all, there were 23 cruise liner calls between January and March - an increase of 14 over 2021.

Transit passengers accounted for the absolute majority of total traffic, reaching 24,559.

On average, every vessel that berthed in Malta carried 1,096 passengers - 211 more than the previous year.

EU passengers made up 79 per cent of total traffic, with the major markets being Germany, accounting for 28.2 per cent of the total and Italy, with 18.3 per cent.

The total number of passengers from non-EU countries stood at 5,276, of whom 38.9 per cent came from the US and 37.3 per cent from the UK.