The Maldives is on the verge of surpassing 2 million tourist arrivals for the year, according to the latest Tourism Update report released by the Ministry of Tourism.

Official figures show that 1.94 million visitors have arrived in the country so far, leaving just 50,587 more arrivals needed to hit the highly anticipated 2 million milestone.

Tourism arrivals have grown steadily throughout the year, with the current total reflecting a 9.9 percent increase compared to the 1.77 million visitors recorded during the same period last year.

In the first 19 days of this month alone, 122,479 tourists arrived in the Maldives, an 11.6 percent rise from the corresponding period in the previous year.

China continues to lead as the top source market, with 305,500 arrivals.

Russia follows with 245,989 tourists, while the United Kingdom ranks third with 173,970 visitors.

Germany and Italy complete the top five, with 146,935 and 127,248 arrivals respectively.

Accommodation statistics show that 73.7 percent of tourists opted to stay at resorts.

Guesthouses accounted for 21.6 percent of stays, while hotels made up 2.1 percent of the total.

The Ministry reports that the country is now welcoming an average of 6,446 tourists per day approximately 10 percent higher than last year’s daily average.