Economy of Malta
The economy of Malta is a highly industrialised service-based economy. It is classified as an advanced economy by the International Monetary Fund and is considered a high-income country by the World Bank and an innovation-driven economy by the World Economic Forum. It is a member of the European Union and of the eurozone, having formally adopted the euro on 1 January 2008.
Central Bank of Malta, Valletta | |
Currency | Euro (EUR, €) |
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Calendar year | |
Trade organisations | EU, WTO and the OSCE |
Country group |
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Statistics | |
Population | 514,564 (1 January 2020) |
GDP |
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GDP rank |
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GDP growth |
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GDP per capita |
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GDP per capita rank |
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GDP by sector |
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Population below poverty line |
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28.0 low (2019, Eurostat) | |
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Labour force |
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Labour force by occupation |
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Unemployment |
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Average gross salary | €1,829 monthly (Q3 2023) |
Average net salary | €1,416 monthly (Q3 2023) |
Main industries | Tourism, electronics, ship building and repair, construction, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, footwear, clothing, tobacco, aviation services, financial services, information technology services |
External | |
Exports | $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 | |
Imports | $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 | $2.03 billion (2017) |
Gross external debt | $5.241 billion (2013 est.) |
Public finances | |
Government debt |
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Revenues | 38.2% of GDP (2019) |
Expenses | 37.7% of GDP (2019) |
Economic aid |
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Credit rating |
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$928 million (October 2020) | |
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars. |
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), productive labour force, low corporate tax 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.
Malta's GDP per capita in 2023, adjusted by purchasing power parity, stood at $61,939 and ranked 15th in the list of EU countries in terms of purchasing power standard. In the 2013 calendar year, Malta recorded a budget deficit of 2.7%, which is within the limits for eurozone countries imposed by the Maastricht criteria, and Government gross debt of 69.8%. At 5.9%, Malta had the sixth-lowest unemployment rate in the EU in 2015.
Malta is the 33rd-most democratic country in the world according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index.