 Tourism is a major component of the Maltese economy, constituting about 40 per cent of Malta's GDP in 2003 / 04. 1,183,012 tourists visited Malta in 2009. Although this is an 8 per cent drop from 2008, the number of tourists is expected to reach 1,300,000 by the end of 2010 (figures are not yet available). For the period January to December 2009, drops were recorded in visits from most countries sending large numbers of tourists to Malta, including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Russia, the Scandinavian countries, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, whilst a 24.7 per cent increase was recorded in visits to and from Libya. Visits from non-European Union countries took the greatest hit, with visits from these countries decreasing by 15 per cent compared to 2008. Comparatively, visits from European Union countries decreased only 7.4 per cent. Visits from the Eurozone dropped by an even smaller proportion, recording a fall of only 5.6 per cent.
