Malta: Youth employment rate drops by five points in a year

The rate of employment among the 15-24 age bracket stood at 47.3 in the last quester of 2020, a decrease of 5.4 percentage points in the same period a year before. Data released by the National Statistics Office that the decline in the total rate of employment year-on-year was 0.1 percentage point, reaching 73.8 percent in 2020.

The rate showed a decrease among people aged 55-64, from 52.5 in 2019 to 51.3 last year. The 25-54 age bracket, however, registered an increase of 1.1 percentage points to reach 85.6 percent in the final quarter of 2020.

The unemployment rate rose among women over the twelve months but fell among men. From a rate of 63.1 percent in 2019, unemployment grew to 64.2 percent in 2020. The rate among men dropped from 83.6 percent to 82.4 percent over the year.

Men experienced a decrease in all age brackets, while the rate increased by 1.0 point and 2.9 points respectively among the female 55-64 and 25-54 age brackets.