Foreign tourist arrivals in Greece last year rose by 8.3 percent over 2004, according to figures released Wednesday by Greece's national statistics service ESYE.

According to the ESYE data, arrivals from Europe, which account for 93 percent of the tourist market, rose by 6.5 percent in 2005, with the largest proportion (19 percent) coming from Britain, followed by Germany (15.7 percent) and Italy (7.9 percent).

A substantial increase was also recorded in arrivals from Romania (51.5 percent), Bulgaria (36.3 percent) and Russia (28.1 percent).

A 2.6 percent increase was also recorded last year in passenger arrivals on charter flights as compared with the previous year.

(Xinhua News Agency September 7, 2006)