Malta welcomed 539,655 tourists in August, up 14.7% from 2025

Malta welcomed 539,655 tourists in August 2026, up 14.7% on a year earlier, with most visiting for a holiday, National Statistics Office figures showed.

According to the NSO, total expenditure per capita fell to €937 from €956 in 2025, for the January-August period.

The decline came as visitor numbers grew faster than spending. Malta received 3,160,974 tourists in the first eight months of 2026, up 17.9% from the same period in 2025.

Tourists spent €2,963.3 million during that period, up 15.6%, while total nights spent rose by 10.9% to 18.7 million.

August spending broadly kept pace with the rise in arrivals. Visitors spent €629.3 million, 14.9% more than in August 2025.

Average spending per visitor reached €1,166.1 that month. The report’s three-year August comparison showed spending per visitor rising from €1,128.6 in 2024, with a smaller increase between 2025 and 2026.

Visitors spent a total of 3,801,507 nights in Malta in August, up 9.9%. With arrivals growing faster than nights spent, the average stay stood at 7.0 nights.

Rented accommodation accounted for 86.7% of guest nights. Average spending per night reached €165.5, compared with €152.2 in August 2024, with the chart showing an increase across all three years.

The monthly arrivals chart, covering August 2024 to August 2026, also showed a clear seasonal pattern: visitor numbers fell during winter and climbed towards summer. August 2026 recorded the highest monthly total in the period shown.

Holiday travel accounted for 515,676 arrivals during August, while a further 10,484 tourists visited Malta for business purposes.

Visitors aged 25 to 44 formed the largest group, accounting for 36.6% of arrivals, followed by those aged 0–24 at 34.7%.

British, Italian and Polish residents together accounted for 46.5% of all inbound tourists. The NSO’s accompanying figures showed 103,525 visitors from Britain, 98,135 from Italy and 49,036 from Poland.

France accounted for a further 41,885 visitors, followed by Germany with 29,281 and Spain with 21,970.

British residents accounted for 752,031 nights, while Italian residents spent 606,066 nights. French residents accounted for 347,253 nights, Polish residents for 304,723, German residents for 245,788 and Spanish residents for 137,104.

Visits to Gozo and Comino also featured in the figures. Together, they received 356,101 tourists in August, including day visitors and those staying overnight, equivalent to 66.0% of inbound tourists.

Across the first eight months of 2026, that total reached 1,794,381, or 56.8% of all inbound tourists.