Cruise passenger traffic in January stood at 12,851, 32 per cent higher than in the corresponding month last year.

The National Statistics Office said that cruise passengers in transit stood at 12,809, up by 47.7 per cent when compared to January last year.

Less than one per cent of the cruise passengers were embarking from or landing in Malta.

Most passengers were aged between 60 and 79 (5,153), followed by passengers falling in the 40-59 age group, (3,808).

The majority of cruise passengers (82.3 per cent) came from EU states. All major European markets registered increases, with the UK recording the highest. Visitors from non-EU countries dropped by 43.7 per cent over 2011, and stood at 2,279.

On average, the number of passengers per vessel stood at 2,570.

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