Malta Insights

Malta: Inflation edges up, but remains euro area lowest

The cost of living continued to edge up in December 2021, with the NSO saying today that the annual rate of inflation as measured by the HICP was 2.6 per…

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Malta lags European counterparts on renewables, but national targets achieved

Newly-released Eurostat data shows that Malta remains at the bottom of the pile in terms of renewable energy used as a percentage of final energy consumption. However, the data shows…

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Malta registers big drop in consumption expenditure

Malta has registered a significant drop in consumption expenditure, estimated by Eurostat to reach 22%, far exceeding the decrease registered on an EU-wide level, which reached 8%. Eurostat said that…

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Malta-Gozo travel up by 32% in 2021

Travel between Malta and Gozo increased substantially in 2021, with trips up by 32.4%. Including both the Gozo Channel ferry service and the fast ferry service, during 2021, the number…

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Malta: Deficit on the increase as government salary bill increases €29.2m in third quarter

During the third quarter of 2021, the General Government recorded a deficit of €267.6 million, NSO data reveals. Salaries continued to play a significant role in expenditure increase, with some…

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Malta: Industrial production in heavy decrease over 2021

In November 2021, the seasonally adjusted index of industrial production decreased by 3.7% over the previous month, data released by the NSO has shown. When compared to November 2020, the…

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82% of people in Malta own their property – Eurostat

Malta continues to register high rates of property ownership, with a Eurostat study finding that some 81.9% of people living in Malta owning their own property. In 2020, 70% of…

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Malta: Unemployment stands at just below 9,000 – Labour Force Survey

During the third quarter of 2021, the Labour Force Survey estimates that total number of persons in employment was 268,987, 3.6 per cent higher when compared to the previous year.…

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Malta: CBM expects domestic demand to drive recovery in 2022

The Central Bank of Malta (Bank) is forecasting that Malta's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 6.0% in 2021, by 6.5% in 2022, 5.3% in 2023 and 3.8% in…

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Malta: Cost-of-living increases to 2.4% in November

In November 2021, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the HICP was 2.4 per cent, up from 1.4% in October 2021. The 12-month moving average rate for November…

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Malta: Airport travel drops in November 36% lower than 2019, but MIA sees green shoots

Last November saw 315,964 passengers travel through Malta International Airport. This total translates into a decrease of 35.9 per cent compared to 2019 figures, which is the lowest percentage drop…

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Malta: Graduates drop 5% in 2020 – NSO

Tertiary-level graduates totalled 4,629 during 2020, equivalent to a decrease of 4.9 per cent over the previous year.The largest share of tertiary graduates (55.5 per cent) attained a qualification at…

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Malta: Services industry leads recovery in Q3

The Maltese economy experienced a strong recovery over the Summer months, despite growth falling slightly short when compared to the drop experienced during the same timeframe last year. During the…

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Malta: Deficit exceeds 1 Billion euro mark by end October

By the end of October 2021, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a staggering deficit of €1,064.9 million. Figures released by the NSO today show that recurrent Revenue amounted to €4,017.5…

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Malta: Food drags inflation upwards again

Food remained the largest contributor to inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index, the NSO said today. The annual rate of inflation has reached 2.25% in October, up from…

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Economy is recovering, but risks remain – Central Bank

Although the economy is recovering, uncertainties surrounding the pandemic remain, posing some downside risks for the financial system, an Interim Financial Stability Report by the Central Bank of Malta found.…

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Malta: October brings strong decline in unemployment rate

In October, the number of persons registering for work stood at 1,254, decreasing by 1,860 when compared to the corresponding month in 2020. Data released today by the NSO, and…

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Malta: Inflation doubles in one month, but remains lowest in EU

In October 2021, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the HICP was 1.4%, double the increase registered a month before (0.7%), figures published by the NSO today show.…

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One in five Maltese smokes daily, Eurostat finds

Almost one in five Maltese persons smoked daily, a Eurostat study has found. The prevalence of Maltese smokers is slightly above the European Union average. In 2019, 18.4% of the…

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Exports decline in first nine months of the year

Exports have continued to decline during the first nine months of the year, fresh NSO data revealed. During the first nine months of the year, the total trade in goods…

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Malta: Health workers behind increase in full-time employment

In May 2021, registered full-time employment increased by 2.6% while part-time employment as a primary job increased by 2.1% compared to the corresponding month in 2020. Administrative data provided by…

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10% of people in Malta live in dark dwellings – Eurostat

Just under 10% of people in Malta, the third highest rate in the European Union, reported not having enough daylight in their dwelling, meaning their dwelling seemed too dark and…

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Malta: Deficit climbs to over €900m by September

By the end of September 2021, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €906.8 million, the NSO reported today. In the first nine months of 2021, Recurrent Revenue amounted…

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Malta: Decline in tax revenue shows extend of pandemic impact

Total tax revenue in 2020 decreased by €317.9 million over the previous year, amounting to €3,973.8 million, the NSO said today. This sheds further light on the adverse economic impact…

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Malta: Unemployment registers slight drop in September

Unemployment dropped slightly last month, standing at 3.2 per cent, dropping by 0.1 percentage points when compared with the previous month and by 1.5 percentage points from September 2020. Fresh…

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Malta: Debt levels exceed €8 billion mark – NSO

At the end of June, General Government debt has exceeded the €8 billion mark (€8,025.8 million), or 59.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This reflects an increase of…

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Malta outperforms EU in employment rates, lacks in educational attainment

Malta's employment and activity rates continue to surpass EU averages, according to an analysis of labour force numbers carried out by the National Statistics Office, but lags behind in a…

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83% of Maltese use internet every day – Eurostat

The percentage of adults (16 to 74-year-olds) in Malta who use the internet every day has risen in line with EU levels, to 83% in 2020, three points above the…

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Malta: Exports decline in first eight months of the year

Despite stronger economic activity in 2021, exports have registered a slight drop in the first eight months of the year compared to the corresponding period last year, a matter of…

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Malta: Education costs tops food as largest contributor to cost of living increase in September

As thousands of children and students returned to their classes in the past few weeks, education performed as the highest contributor to annual inflation, at 17.2%, with food and beverage,…

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Malta: Financial services contribute 90% to FDI in 2020

The Financial services industry contributed to over 90% of total Foreign Direct Investment Flows in 2020. These totalled €196.2 billion, an increase of €3.4 billion over the year before. According…

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85,369 persons live below risk-of-poverty-line, NSO report shows

An Income and Living Conditions survey by the NSO has shown that the number of persons living in householdsbelow the at-risk-of-poverty line (€9,744) stands 85,369 persons. This translates into an…

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Malta: Self-employed make 15% of working population

Nearly 40,500 persons in Malta are self-employed, equivalent to 15.1 per cent of all persons with a main job. Figures by the National Statistics Office show that just over 28,800…

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Malta: Total employment rises in Q2

The total number of persons in employment stood at 266,553 in the second quarter this year, an increase of 3.2 per cent from the same period in 2020. According to…

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Malta: Early school leaving rate higher among men

The total rate of early leavers from education and training stood at 12.8 per cent in 2020, down from 13.9 per cent the year before. Figures by the National Statistics…

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Malta: Almost half of population registers a low level of education

The rate of person with a low level of education stood at 46.4 per cent in 2020, according to figures published by the National Statistics Office. A low educational attainment…

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Malta: Unemployment registers significant drop in July

The job market registered a positive improvement in July, with the number of persons registering for work decreasing by 2,439 when compared to the corresponding month in 2020. It not…

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Malta: Tourists from the UK make less than 5% in June

Total visitors from arriving from France reached nearly 13,000 in June this year, the highest number of tourists from any single country. Figures by the National Statistics Office show an…

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Malta: Women in long-term unemployment increase by 10 per cent

The overall rate of unemployment among women fell from 1,698 in June 2020 to 569 in the same month this year. Figures by the National Statistics Office show that the…

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Malta: Producer goods sustain monthly rise

Industrial producer prices in June rose for the fourth consecutive month, registering an increase of 0.36 per cent from May. The total producer price index stood at 110.88 in June,…

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Malta: Internal tourism accounts for 90% of Gozo visitors in 2020

Domestic tourism between Malta and Gozo rose to 360,460 in 2020, an increase of 52 per cent from 2019. Data by the National Statistics Office shows that nearly 97 per…

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Malta: Electric and hybrid cars increase by a fifth in the second quarter

The annual rate of inflation in July stood at 0.7 percent, the lowest increase in the months under review since January 2018. Figures by the National Statistics Office show that…

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Malta: House prices drop in the first quarter

The House Price Index fell by 1.6 per cent between January and March this year compared to the preceding quarter. Data by Eurostat shows that Malta was one of only…

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Malta: Retail registers one of the highest annual increases in the EU

Total retail trade grew by 22 per cent between May 2020 and May 2021, well above the 9.0 per cent average registered in the EU. Data by Eurostat shows that…

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Malta: Public debt soars in first quarter

Total government debt grew to €7,478.2 million between January and March, up from €6,958.5 million in the preceding quarter. Figures by the National Statistics Office show an increase of €1.544.8…

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Malta: Youth unemployment drops below two thousand

Youth unemployment stood at 1,944 in May, the first time it fell below 2,000 in a year. Figures by the National Statistics Office show a month-on-month decrease of 0.7 percentage…

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Malta: Industrial prices up by a tenth in four years

The industrial producer price index rose to its highest point in May 2021, an increase of 9.92 per cent from the same month in 2017. Figures by the National Statistics…

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Malta: Energy from photovoltaics up by a fifth in 2020

Production of energy from photovoltaic installations amounted to just under 185,000 kWp in 2020, an increase of 19.6 per cent from the previous year. Data by the National Statistics Office…

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Malta: Industrial production eclipses EU average in April

Industrial production rose by 5.6 per cent between March and April, the second-highest rate among EU members. Figures by Eurostat show that the increase outpaced the EU average of 0.5…

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Malta: Production grows across the board for the first time in a year

Industrial Production increased by 5.3 per cent in April compared to the previous month, registering growth across all major groupings for the first month in twelve months. The Index of…

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Malta: Property transactions decrease in May but total value increases

Final deeds of property sales in May surpassed a total value of €300 million for the first time since October 2018. Figures by the National Statistics Office show transactions adding…

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Malta: Women score lower unemployment rate than men

The rate of unemployment among women stood at 3.7 per cent in April, the first time it fell lower than the male unemployment rate in twelve months. Unemployment among men…

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Malta: Total value of residential property sales nears €230 million in April

Final deeds of sale for residential properties reached a combined value of €228.4 million in April, almost level with the same month in 2019. Last year, total transactions amounted to…

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Malta: Asia represents a fifth of trade in goods

Exports to Asian countries accounted for 18.8 per cent of the total trade goods in the first quarter of 2021, with a combined value of €142.2 million. Imports from Asia…

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Malta: Imports from UK fall by 45% since Brexit

Total imports from Britain stood at €75.3 million in the first three months since the UK’s withdrawal from the EU came into full effect on January 1, 2021. In the…

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Malta: Passengers between the islands decrease by a third

The number of passengers crossing between Malta and Gozo in the first quarter this year decreased by 31.5 percent compared with the same period in 2020. Figures by the National…

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Malta: Nine students for every teacher in schools

The overall ratio between teachers and the student population stood at 9.2 in the academic year 2018-2019. Data by the National Statistics Office shows that the ratio was lowest in…

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