In 2023, foreign students attending English language courses at local licensed English Language Teaching (ELT) schools amounted to 78,567, marking an increase of 21,892 over 2022.

The statistics, published by the National Statistics Office (NSO), show that the majority of students attending English language courses in Malta came from Italy (27.8%), followed by Germany (10.4%) and France (9%). Overall, 73.9% of total students came from an EU country.

"The largest share of English language students were aged 15 and under, accounting for 28.3% of the total students following ELT courses. Students aged 50 and over were in the minority and numbered 6,080. Female students outnumbered males, accounting for 61.9% of the total ELT student population.

July was the busiest month for local licensed ELT schools in terms of course attendance, accounting for 17.1% of the annual total. August and March followed with 13.4% and 10.5% respectively, the NSO said.

"The most popular course uptake in local licensed ELT schools was 'General English: Standard', whereby a total of 57,384 students, or 73.1% opted for this course. This was followed by the 'Intensive English' courses, with 16.5% of total students."

Foreign students enrolled in local licensed ELT schools accounted for 273,131 student weeks. The absolute majority of courses (99% of total student weeks) were held physically, with online courses accounting for only 1%. The average number of student weeks during the year under review stood at 3.5, a decrease of 0.9 weeks when compared to the previous year, the NSO said. "With an average of 14.7 weeks, students from Colombia recorded the highest number of student weeks, followed by Chilean and South Korean students with average student weeks at 13.3 and 10.7 weeks respectively."

"In 2023, teaching and academic staff in local licensed ELT schools numbered 620, with the largest proportion (25%) being in 55 and over age group. Female teachers accounted for 70.3% of the total. Non-teaching staff amounted to 603, of whom 69.2% were employed on a full-time basis."