More than 220,000 cruise ship passengers in Malta in third quarter – NSO

Total cruise passenger traffic during the third quarter of 2022 amounted to 223,480, the NSO said on Friday.

There were 97 cruise liner calls during the third quarter of 2022, an increase of 53 when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Transit passengers accounted for the absolute majority of total traffic, reaching 182,889.

On average, every vessel that berthed in Malta carried 2,304 passengers, 815 more when compared to the same period in 2021. Passengers from EU Member States comprised 63.9 per cent of total traffic. The major markets were Italy, accounting for 22.3 per cent of the total passengers, being followed by Germany, with 20.5 per cent. The total number of passengers from Non-EU countries stood at 80,615, of whom 56.7 per cent came from the United Kingdom and 22.1 per cent came from the United States.

On a gender basis, female passengers made up 53.0 per cent of the total. The largest share of passengers fell within the 40-59 age bracket and were followed by those aged between 60 and 79 years.

January-September 2022

During the first three quarters of the year, total cruise passengers stood at 386,018. Of these, 59.5 per cent came from EU Member States. The majority of the passengers were females amounting to 205,116, thus being equivalent to 53.1 per cent of the total. Most passengers were between 40 and 59 years old, totalling 137,343. These were followed by passengers aged 60-79 years, thus reaching 107,654 in total.