VALLETTA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Malta's National Statistics Office said on Thursday that 87,190 foreign students are attending Malta's English language courses at local licensed English Language Teaching (ELT) schools in 2017.

Statistics reveals that foreign students number in 2017 increased by 13.6 percent over 2016.

The majority of students attending English courses in Malta came from Italy, Germany and France, which together accounted for more than half of total students.

The largest share of language students were aged 15 years or less, making up 32.2 percent of total students.

Female students outnumbered males in all age categories, and accounted for 59.7 percent of the entire student population under review.

The most popular course offered by local licensed ELT schools is General English. 71.5 percent of students studying during 2017 opted for this course.

English language teaching is an important sector within the tourism industry as well as a predominant contributor to an ever-evolving education sector.