The number of Maltese nationals who went abroad last year increased by more than a third over 2022, according to national data.

The same National Statistics Office data shows that the number of outbound trips in the last three months of the month increased by over a fifth.

October to December 2023

The NSO said on Monday that the number of outbound tourists for the fourth quarter of 2023 stood at 218,288 - an increase of 21.1 per cent over the corresponding quarter of 2022.

The total nights spent abroad during this same time amounted to 1,494,943.

NSO defines outbound tourists as Maltese residents travelling to, and staying in places outside Malta for not more than 12 consecutive months for personal, business or other purposes.

The data shows that during the quarter under review, a total of 140,554 outbound tourist trips were undertaken for holiday purposes, followed by 51,528 trips for visiting friends and relatives.

Most outbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44 years, followed by those within the 45 to 64 age bracket.

Outbound tourists towards EU and non-EU countries increased by 19.3 and 26.6 per cent respectively when compared to the same quarter of 2022.

Italy remained the most popular destination, with a share of 33.3 per cent of total tourist trips.

January to December 2023

Total outbound tourist trips for 2023 numbered 814,005 - an increase of 35.3 per cent over 2022.

Total nights spent by outbound tourists went up by 33.9 per cent, surpassing 5.6 million nights.

In addition, total estimated outlay by resident tourists stood at €734.8 million, 42.0 per cent higher than that recorded for 2022 (Table 10).