While the number of tourists visiting the country in the first six months of the year spiked upwards when compared to the same period last year, the average expenditure per capita dropped.

The National Statistics Office registered that 2,131,825 visited the country between January and June, an increase of 18.1 per cent over the same period in 2025. Last year Malta reached a record-number of tourists, over 4 million, but given the data so far for this year, it seems the country is on track to reach a target not planned to be reached until 2030.

The Malta Vision 2050, launched in February, outlines that “in the period to 2035, tourism policy will focus on rebalancing value versus volume. Visitor numbers are expected to grow only moderately, reaching around 4.4 – 4.5 million tourists, while the sector’s economic contribution increases more strongly.”

Tourism Minister Jo-Etienne Abela said earlier this year that he thinks Malta’s 2035 target of 4.5 million tourists.

Total tourist expenditure in the first half of this year was estimated at €1,795.6 million, 14.8 per cent higher than that recorded for the same period in 2025, but at the same time total expenditure per capita dropped to €842 from €866 in 2025.

This shows that while the number of tourists is on the rise, spending per tourist is decreasing. A debate in the country over the tourism sector has been ongoing, with the aim being to attract higher-quality, higher-spending tourists, although the average spend indicates that this has not yet begun to happen.

Total nights spent by inbound tourists in the first half of the year went up by 10.1 per cent, reaching 11.8 million nights.