Sea Transport betwe​en Malta and Gozo: Q4/2020​​​

15 January 2021 | 1100 hrs | 008/2021

During the fourth quarter of 2020, sea transport between Malta and Gozo registered an increase in trips and a decrease in both passengers and vehicles when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2019.

Sea Transport between Malta and Gozo: Q4/2020

A total of 876,054 passengers travelled between Malta and Gozo during the fourth quarter of 2020, down by

35.4 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019. The highest number of passengers was recorded in October at 327,214 or 37.4 per cent of the total for the quarter. When compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the number of vehicles also registered a decrease of 8.2 per cent, with a total of 390,781 vehicles (Tables 1 and 2, Chart 1).

The number of trips amounted to 8,094, an increase of 5.8 per cent over the same period in 2019 (Table 1). The majority of trips took place in October with 2,760 or 34.1 per cent of total trips for the quarter (Table 2).

Annual Perspective: 2020

Overall, during 2020, the number of trips went up by 1,421 or 5.1 per cent, when compared to 2019. Vehicle movements between the islands decreased by 230,771 or 12.9 per cent, over the previous year, while the number of passengers went down by 2,143,799 or 36.2 per cent (Tables 1 and 2).

During 2020, July recorded the highest number of trips and vehicles, 2,790 and 179,425, respectively. On the other hand, August registered the largest share of passengers crossing between the two islands, 452,929 (Table 2).

Passenger and vehicle traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Friday and Saturday, whereas highest numbers for passengers and vehicle traffic originating from Mġarr were recorded on Sunday and Monday (Charts 3 and 4) 

Chart 1. Passengers and vehicles crossing between Malta and Gozo

passengers/vehicles

700,000

600,000

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0

J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2018

2019

2020

period

Passengers

Vehicles

Statistics in this News Release should be interpreted in context to the unprecedented developments and restrictions related to COVID-19.

Compiled by: Regional, Geospatial, Energy and Transport Statistics Unit	1
Contact us: National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000
T. [phone], E. [e-mail]
https://twitter.com/NSOMALTA/		https://www.facebook.com/nsomalta/

Table 1. Sea transport between Malta and Gozo by quarter

					Change	Percentage
	Quarter	2018	2019	2020	change
	2020/2019	2020/2019
Trips	Jan-Mar	5,259	5,449	7,324	1,875	34.4
	Apr-Jun	5,776	6,289	5,334	-955	-15.2
	Jul-Sep	6,764	8,240	8,300	60	0.7
	Oct-Dec	5,820	7,653	8,094	441	5.8
	Total	23,619	27,631	29,052	1,421	5.1
Vehicles	Jan-Mar	339,266	363,460	356,997	-6,463	-1.8
	Apr-Jun	423,152	454,818	282,446	-172,372	-37.9
	Jul-Sep	498,888	538,864	521,914	-16,950	-3.1
	Oct-Dec	398,596	425,767	390,781	-34,986	-8.2
	Total	1,659,902	1,782,909	1,552,138	-230,771	-12.9
Passengers	Jan-Mar	1,121,001	1,146,490	1,038,142	-108,348	-9.5
	Apr-Jun	1,535,414	1,575,472	581,311	-994,161	-63.1
	Jul-Sep	1,780,474	1,840,575	1,278,474	-562,101	-30.5
	Oct-Dec	1,321,429	1,355,243	876,054	-479,189	-35.4
	Total	5,758,318	5,917,780	3,773,981	-2,143,799	-36.2

passengers/vehicles

Chart 2. Passengers and vehicles to and from Malta and Gozo: October-December

700,000

600,000

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0

2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
		Ċirkewwa							Mġarr
						year
						Passengers		Vehicles

2

Table 2. Sea transport between Malta and Gozo by month

					Change	Percentage
	Month	2018	2019	2020	change
	2020/2019	2020/2019
Trips	January	1,771	1,739	2,454	715	41.1
	February	1,614	1,676	2,494	818	48.8
	March	1,874	2,034	2,376	342	16.8
	April	1,870	1,957	1,534	-423	-21.6
	May	1,898	2,014	1,664	-350	-17.4
	June	2,008	2,318	2,136	-182	-7.9
	July	2,252	2,716	2,790	74	2.7
	August	2,292	2,802	2,788	-14	-0.5
	September	2,220	2,722	2,722	0	0.0
	October	2,088	2,712	2,760	48	1.8
	November	1,822	2,421	2,642	221	9.1
	December	1,910	2,520	2,692	172	6.8
	Total	23,619	27,631	29,052	1,421	5.1
Vehicles	January	106,556	107,174	132,191	25,017	23.3
	February	103,893	112,014	139,905	27,891	24.9
	March	128,817	144,272	84,901	-59,371	-41.2
	April	138,464	146,216	47,805	-98,411	-67.3
	May	140,028	150,984	93,064	-57,920	-38.4
	June	144,660	157,618	141,577	-16,041	-10.2
	July	165,538	176,767	179,425	2,658	1.5
	August	172,120	187,536	178,527	-9,009	-4.8
	September	161,230	174,561	163,962	-10,599	-6.1
	October	138,973	157,109	139,860	-17,249	-11.0
	November	127,404	134,764	124,499	-10,265	-7.6
	December	132,219	133,894	126,422	-7,472	-5.6
	Total	1,659,902	1,782,909	1,552,138	-230,771	-12.9
Passengers	January	338,780	323,772	396,542	72,770	22.5
	February	331,858	344,773	429,259	84,486	24.5
	March	450,363	477,945	212,341	-265,604	-55.6
	April	508,880	520,755	78,407	-442,348	-84.9
	May	513,598	520,284	184,082	-336,202	-64.6
	June	512,936	534,433	318,822	-215,611	-40.3
	July	582,541	594,610	433,455	-161,155	-27.1
	August	620,042	649,878	452,929	-196,949	-30.3
	September	577,891	596,087	392,090	-203,997	-34.2
	October	494,964	533,020	327,214	-205,806	-38.6
	November	405,514	413,684	271,499	-142,185	-34.4
	December	420,951	408,539	277,341	-131,198	-32.1
	Total	5,758,318	5,917,780	3,773,981	-2,143,799	-36.2

3

Table 3. Sea transport to and from Malta and Gozo by month

		Ċirkewwa - Mġarr	Change	Percentage	Mġarr - Ċirkewwa	Change	Percentage
		change	change
	Month
	2019	2020	2020/2019	2020/2019	2019	2020	2020/2019	2020/2019
Trips	January	869	1,227	358	41.2	870	1,227	357	41.0
	February	838	1,249	411	49.0	838	1,245	407	48.6
	March	1,017	1,187	170	16.7	1,017	1,189	172	16.9
	April	978	766	-212	-21.7	979	768	-211	-21.6
	May	1,007	832	-175	-17.4	1,007	832	-175	-17.4
	June	1,159	1,068	-91	-7.9	1,159	1,068	-91	-7.9
	July	1,358	1,395	37	2.7	1,358	1,395	37	2.7
	August	1,401	1,394	-7	-0.5	1,401	1,394	-7	-0.5
	September	1,362	1,361	-1	-0.1	1,360	1,361	1	0.1
	October	1,356	1,380	24	1.8	1,356	1,380	24	1.8
	November	1,210	1,321	111	9.2	1,211	1,321	110	9.1
	December	1,261	1,346	85	6.7	1,259	1,346	87	6.9
	Total	13,816	14,526	710	5.1	13,815	14,526	711	5.1
Vehicles	January	52,901	66,433	13,532	25.6	54,273	65,758	11,485	21.2
	February	57,189	71,525	14,336	25.1	54,825	68,380	13,555	24.7
	March	72,792	42,265	-30,527	-41.9	71,480	42,636	-28,844	-40.4
	April	74,407	24,238	-50,169	-67.4	71,809	23,567	-48,242	-67.2
	May	77,120	47,477	-29,643	-38.4	73,864	45,587	-28,277	-38.3
	June	80,304	71,934	-8,370	-10.4	77,314	69,643	-7,671	-9.9
	July	89,926	93,028	3,102	3.4	86,841	86,397	-444	-0.5
	August	96,782	89,296	-7,486	-7.7	90,754	89,231	-1,523	-1.7
	September	87,007	81,801	-5,206	-6.0	87,554	82,161	-5,393	-6.2
	October	80,150	71,481	-8,669	-10.8	76,959	68,379	-8,580	-11.1
	November	68,681	60,877	-7,804	-11.4	66,083	63,622	-2,461	-3.7
	December	69,015	65,450	-3,565	-5.2	64,879	60,972	-3,907	-6.0
	Total	906,274	785,805	-120,469	-13.3	876,635	766,333	-110,302	-12.6
Passengers	January	158,525	199,295	40,770	25.7	165,247	197,247	32,000	19.4
	February	173,170	217,473	44,303	25.6	171,603	211,786	40,183	23.4
	March	239,360	105,273	-134,087	-56.0	238,585	107,068	-131,517	-55.1
	April	262,868	39,831	-223,037	-84.8	257,887	38,576	-219,311	-85.0
	May	262,079	92,580	-169,499	-64.7	258,205	91,502	-166,703	-64.6
	June	269,203	159,891	-109,312	-40.6	265,230	158,931	-106,299	-40.1
	July	297,849	218,756	-79,093	-26.6	296,761	214,699	-82,062	-27.7
	August	327,485	220,719	-106,766	-32.6	322,393	232,210	-90,183	-28.0
	September	294,770	192,493	-102,277	-34.7	301,317	199,597	-101,720	-33.8
	October	267,441	164,461	-102,980	-38.5	265,579	162,753	-102,826	-38.7
	November	206,789	130,497	-76,292	-36.9	206,895	141,002	-65,893	-31.8
	December	206,125	140,308	-65,817	-31.9	202,414	137,033	-65,381	-32.3
	Total	2,965,664	1,881,577	-1,084,087	-36.6	2,952,116	1,892,404	-1,059,712	-35.9

4