A total of 184,004 Maltese residents travelled abroad in the fourth quarter, 14.7% more than the same period in 2017.
Outbound tourists towards EU and non-EU countries increased by 13.3% and 25.1% respectively when compared to the same quarter in 2017, the National Statistics Office said.
Italy and the UK remained the most popular destinations, with a joint share of 48.7% of total tourist trips.
The number of nights spent abroad increased by 15%, amounting over 1.2 million nights.
In absolute terms, the majority of guest nights (50.3%) were spent in non-rented accommodation establishments.
Total estimated outlay increased by 7.8% over the same quarter of 2017, and stood at €148.4 million, equivalent to an average €807 per trip.
January-December 2018.
The total number of trips between January and December numbered 667,048, an increase of 16.5% over 2017.
The total nights spent abroad went up by 14.2%, reaching almost 4.5 million nights. The total estimated outlay by resident tourists stood at €563.2 million, 9% higher than recorded for the same period in 2017.