Cyprus has emerged as the European Union (EU) leader for tourism growth in 2024, registering the highest year-on-year growth in overnight stays among all member states, according to Eurostat.

The EU’s statistical office on Friday reported that Cyprus saw a significant increase of 14.5 per cent in the number of nights spent in its tourist accommodation establishments compared with 2023.

This figure was narrowly ahead of Malta, which registered the second-highest growth rate at 14.4 per cent.

Latvia followed at a distance, registering a 7.4 per cent growth rate compared with 2023.

The strong performance of Cyprus contributed to the overall EU figures, which saw the total number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments exceed three billion for the first time.

Across the EU, the number of nights spent increased by 2.7 per cent in 2024 compared with the previous year.

In contrast to the widespread growth, only two countries recorded slight decreases compared with 2023, with Finland falling by 0.7 per cent and France by 0.6 per cent.

Belgium and Sweden showed relatively stable figures, with 0.3 per cent increases.

Of the total 3.02 billion nights spent across the EU, the majority were made by domestic guests from their respective countries, accounting for 51.9 per cent or 1.57 billion nights.

The remaining 48.1 per cent (1.45 billion) were made by international guests.

Looking at international travel, the majority of nights spent by foreign guests (61.6 per cent) were by tourists from other EU countries.

Tourists from other European countries accounted for 21.3 per cent of international stays.

Only 16.4 per cent of international overnight stays were made by people from other world regions.

Guests from North America accounted for 7.5 per cent of all international stays, leading the non-European regions.

Asia followed at 4.9 per cent, Central and South America at 2.3 per cent, Oceania at 1.0 per cent, and Africa at 0.8 per cent.

In terms of accommodation type across the EU, close to two-thirds (62.8 per cent) of all overnight stays were made in hotels and similar accommodation.

Holiday and other short-stay accommodation, such as rented apartments, accounted for 23.7 per cent of nights.

The remaining 13.5 per cent were spent in camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks, and trailer parks.