Economy of Malta

Economy of Malta
Night image of Buġibba Harbour, Bugibba, St. Paul's Bay, Malta
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)[note 1]
Calendar year
Trade organisations
EU, WTO and the OSCE
Country group
Statistics
PopulationIncrease 514,564 (1 January 2020)[3]
GDP
  • Increase $22.7 billion (nominal, 2024)[4]
  • Increase $36.9 billion (PPP, 2024)[4]
GDP rank
GDP growth
  • Increase 8.1% (2022)[5]
  • Increase 5.6% (2023f)[5]
  • Increase 5.0% (2024f)[5]
GDP per capita
  • Increase $41,738 (nominal, 2024)[4]
  • Increase $67,682 (PPP, 2024)[4]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
  • 0.8% (2020 est.)[4]
  • 1.5% (2019)[4]
  • 1.7% (2018)[4]
Population below poverty line
  • 15.1% (2012)
  • Negative increase 20.2% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE, 2019)[7]
Positive decrease 28.0 low (2019, Eurostat)[8]
Decrease 55 out of 100 points (2023)[10] (51st)
Labour force
  • Decrease 226,582 (2019)[11]
  • Increase 81.7% employment rate (2023)[12]
Labour force by occupation
  • Public Administration: 26.6%
  • Trade, Transport, Accommodation & Food: 28.6%
  • Manufacturing & Industry: 15.7%
  • Professional, Scientific & Technical: 7.7%
  • Construction: 5.6%
  • Financial & Insurance: 4.4%
  • Agriculture & Fishing: 1.6%
  • Information & Communication: 3.5%
  • Other Services: 5.6%
  • (2014 est.)[13]
Unemployment
  • Positive decrease 4.1% (August 2020)[14]
  • Positive decrease 8.7% youth unemployment (2018)[15]
Average gross salary
€1,829 monthly (Q3 2023)[16]
€1,416 monthly (Q3 2023)[16]
Main industries
Tourism, electronics, ship building and repair, construction, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, footwear, clothing, tobacco, aviation services, financial services, information technology services
External
ExportsDecrease $4.938 billion (2014 est.)
Export goods
Machinery and mechanical appliances, mineral fuels, oils and products, pharmaceutical products, printed books and newspapers, aircraft and parts, toys, games and sports equipment
Main export partners
ImportsIncrease $8.384 billion (2014 est.)
Import goods
Mineral fuels, oils and products, electrical machinery, aircraft and parts, machinery and mechanical appliances, plastic and other semi-manufactured goods, vehicles and parts
Main import partners
FDI stock
Increase $2.03 billion (2017)[19]
Increase$5.241 billion (2013 est.)[20]
Public finances
  • Negative increase 9,767 billion
    50,3 of GDP (2023)[21]
  • [21]
  • 950,4 million deficit (2023)[21]
  • -4,89% of GDP (2023)[21]
Revenues6,481 billion
33.4% of GDP (2023)[21]
Expenses7,431 billion
38.3% of GDP (2023)[21]
Economic aid
Increase$928 million (October 2020)
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.


The economy of Malta is a highly industrialised service-based economy. It is classified as an advanced economy by the International Monetary Fund[28] and is considered a high-income country by the World Bank[29] and an innovation-driven economy by the World Economic Forum.[30] It is a member of the European Union and of the eurozone, having formally adopted the euro on 1 January 2008.[31]

The strengths of Malta's economy are its advantageous location, being situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea at a crossroads between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, its fully developed open market economy, multilingual population (88% of Maltese people speak English),[32] productive labour force, low corporate tax[33] and well developed finance and ICT clusters. The economy is dependent on foreign trade, manufacturing (especially electronics), tourism and other services in the tertiary sector of the economy. In 2014, over 1.7 million tourists visited the island.[34]

Malta's GDP per capita in 2024, adjusted by purchasing power parity, stood at $67,682[4] and ranked 15th in the list of EU countries in terms of purchasing power standard.[35] In the 2013 calendar year, Malta recorded a budget deficit of 2.7%,[36] which is within the limits for eurozone countries imposed by the Maastricht criteria, and Government gross debt of 69.8%.[37] At 5.9%, Malta had the sixth-lowest unemployment rate in the EU in 2015.[38]

Malta is the 33rd-most democratic country in the world according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index.


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  1. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  2. ^ "World Bank Country and Lending Groups". datahelpdesk.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Population on 1 January". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: April 2024". imf.org. International Monetary Fund.
  5. ^ a b c "The outlook is uncertain again amid financial sector turmoil, high inflation, ongoing effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and three years of COVID". International Monetary Fund. 11 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Europe :: Malta — the World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  7. ^ "People at risk of poverty or social exclusion". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income - EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index". Transparency International. 30 January 2024. Archived from the original on 30 January 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Labor force, total - Malta". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Employment rate by sex, age group 20-64". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Labour Force Survey: Q4, 2014". National Statistics Office, Malta. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  14. ^ "Unemployment by sex and age - monthly average". appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Youth unemployment rate by sex, age (15-24) and country of birth". appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  16. ^ a b Debono, Rosemarie (14 December 2023). "Labour Force Survey: Q3/2023". Table 9. Average monthly basic salary for employees by sex and economic activity in the main occupation. NSO Malta. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Export Partners of Malta". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Import Partners of Malta". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  19. ^ World Investment Report, UNCTAD, https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/wir2018_en.pdf , page 205
  20. ^ "General Government Gross Debt". Eurostat. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  21. ^ a b c d e f "Central Bank of Malta government debt" (PDF). ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  22. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. ^ Dalli, Miriam. "Standard & Poor's reaffirms BBB+ rating for 5". MaltaToday. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  25. ^ "Moody's affirms A3 rating for Malta with a positive outlook, concerns about national debt". The Malta Independent. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  26. ^ "Fitch affirms Malta at 'A'; outlook stable". The Times of Malta. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  27. ^ "Scope affirms the Republic of Malta's long-term foreign-currency ratings at A+ with Stable Outlook". 2 August 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  28. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database: Changes to the Database". International Monetary Fund. April 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  29. ^ "World Bank Country Data: Malta". The World Bank. 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  30. ^ "The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015". World Economic Forum. 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  31. ^ "Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro". Wikinews. 1 January 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  32. ^ "Top Reasons to Invest in Malta". Malta Enterprise. 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  33. ^ "EY's 2014 Malta Attractiveness Survey". Ernst & Young. 8 October 2014. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  34. ^ "Inbound Tourism: December 2014". National Statistics Office, Malta. 30 January 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  35. ^ "Malta's GDP per capita in 15th place". Times of Malta. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  36. ^ "General Government Deficit (-) and Surplus (+): Annual Data". Eurostat. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  37. ^ "General Government Gross Debt: Annual Data". Eurostat. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  38. ^ "Unemployment Statistics". Eurostat. February 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.