Last year, foreign students attending English language courses at local specialised schools numbered 81,911, an 18.2 per cent increase over 2011.

Results from the National Statistics Office showed that almost two-thirds of students came from Italy, Germany, Russia, France or Spain. Italian students accounted for a 19.2 per cent share, while students from Germany, Russia, France and Spain came next with shares of 14.1, 13.9, 10.4 and 7.3 per cent respectively.

The largest proportion of language students fell within the 16-17 age groups and reached 21,791, or 26.6 per cent of the total. Students aged 50 and over were in a minority and counted 3,879. Female students outnumbered males, and accounted for 57.5 per cent of the entire student population.

July was the busiest month for English language specialised schools, with 23,628 students or 28.8 per cent of the annual total. December was the least busy, with just over 1,000 students.

The absolute majority of students were Europeans (88.5 per cent). Of these, 56,098 were EU citizens, while the remaining 16,377 were from other European countries. All continents experienced an increase over 2011, with the African market reporting the most significant change in percentage terms.

Persons studying English as a foreign language amounted to 5.7 per cent of total foreign nationals visiting Malta during 2012. Female students made up 6.8 per cent of total female tourists, while males made up 4.6 per cent. During July, 13.5 per cent of foreigners visiting Malta were foreign students attending English language specialised schools.

The average length of stay of students for 2012 was estimated at 2.8 weeks. Increases in all calendar months were recorded when compared to 2011. With an average of 7.9 weeks, students from South Korea had the highest average duration. These were followed by Turkey and Libya with averages of 5.6 and 5.3 weeks respectively.

The total number of weeks spent by foreign students in Malta amounted to 226,360, up from 182,347 in 2011.

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