A total 99,062 cruise passengers (44.1 per cent) more than in August last year visited Malta in the same month this year ,the National Statistics Office said.

It said there were 43 cruise liner calls last month with an average 2,304 passengers per vessel.

The National Statistics Office said there were 77,801 cruise passengers in transit 49.1 per cent more than in the same month last year.

Visitors embarking from or landing in Malta amounted to 10,640 and 10,621, respectively.

The majority of cruise passengers came from EU states and totalled 85,189. The German market remained the strongest, as in previous months, with 30,072 passengers, followed by the Italian market with 18,701 cruise passengers.

All major European markets showed rises in the number of passengers, with France, United Kingdom and Germany registering the highest increases.

Cruise passengers from non-EU countries more than doubled when compared to the previous year, reaching 13,873 for the month under review. This was mainly brought about by a substantial increase of 3,228 passengers in the American market.

Total cruise passengers between January and August amounted to 393,610, up by 12.9 per cent when compared to the previous year.

A total 325,478, or 82.7 per cent, were from EU states. Most - 116,658, came from Germany and from Italy - 66,560. Visitors from non-EU countries numbered 68,132 - a drop of 5,568 when compared to last year.

During the first eight months, 2,556 cruise passengers also visited Gozo - 2,231 more than in 2011. In all, there were 193 cruise liner calls, each carrying an average of 2,039 passengers.