An estimated 177,000 tourists visited Malta in November, an increase of 5.9 per cent compared to the same month in 2017.

According to National Statistics Office (NSO) figures, around 145,600 trips were holiday visits while around 20,000 came on business.

Tourists from EU member states constituted the majority of visitors - around 149,500 trips - and increased by 6.2 per cent compared to the previous year.

Most inbound tourists, some 40 per cent, were aged between 25 and 44, followed by those within the 45 to 64 age bracket.

Total nights spent went up by 8 per cent when compared to November 2017, surpassing 1.1 million nights, with around 60 per cent spent in collective accommodation establishments.

Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €123.5 million, an increase of 2.6 per cent over November 2017.

Between January and November 2018, tourist trips rose to nearly 2.5 million - up 14.5 per cent on the previous year - with 17.7 million nights spent in Malta in total.

Tourists spent an estimated €2 billion in Malta in that period, but average expenditure per person dipped slightly to €817.