Paris- The Louvre Museum in Paris set a new visitor record in 2008 as 8.5 million people made their way through its more than 60,000 square metres of exhibition space, the museum said Friday.

That represents an increase of about 200,000 over 2007, and a rise of some 67 per cent since 2001.

The largest age group entering the museum are the young, with those 25 years of age and younger representing 40 per cent of the Louvre visitors in 2008.

Among the 15 special exhibitions mounted by the Louvre last year, those featuring the ancient city of Babylon and the Venetian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna were the most popular, the museum said.

Located on the Right Bank of the Seine, in the heart of Paris, the Louvre is the world's most visited art museum, a historic monument and a national museum of France. dpa