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.

Economy of Malta
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
Calendar year
Trade organisations
EU, WTO and the OSCE
Country group
Statistics
Population 514,564 (1 January 2020)
GDP
  • $19.4 billion (nominal, 2023)
  • $32.5 billion (PPP, 2023)
GDP rank
  • 129th (nominal, 2023)
  • 144th (PPP, 2023)
GDP growth
  • 6.9% (2022)
  • 3.5% (2023f)
  • 3.5% (2024f)
GDP per capita
  • $36,989 (nominal, 2023)
  • $61,939 (PPP, 2023)
GDP per capita rank
  • 25th (nominal, 2023)
  • 27th (PPP, 2023)
GDP by sector
  • agriculture: 1.4%
  • industry: 11.4%
  • services: 87.2%
  • (2015 est.)
  • 0.8% (2020 est.)
  • 1.5% (2019)
  • 1.7% (2018)
Population below poverty line
  • 15.1% (2012)
  • 20.2% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE, 2019)
28.0 low (2019, Eurostat)
  • 0.918 very high (2021) (23rd)
  • 0.849 very high IHDI (20th) (2021)
Labour force
  • 226,582 (2019)
  • 75.5% employment rate (Target: 70%; 2018)
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.)
Unemployment
  • 4.1% (August 2020)
  • 8.7% youth unemployment (2018)
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
  •  Russia 22%
  •  Italy 11.5%
  •  United Kingdom 10.7%
  •  Germany 5.89%
  •  Turkey 5.33%
  •  France 5.08%
  •  Greece 5.01%
  •  China 4.18%
  •  Spain 2.37%
  •  Netherlands 2.18% (2019)
FDI stock
$2.03 billion (2017)
$5.241 billion (2013 est.)
Public finances
Government debt
  • 43.1% of GDP (2019)
  • €71 million surplus (2019)
  • +0.5% of GDP (2019)
Revenues38.2% of GDP (2019)
Expenses37.7% of GDP (2019)
Economic aid
  • €855 million from European Structural and Investment Funds (2007–2013)
  • €828 million from European Structural and Investment Funds (2014–2020)
Credit rating
  • Standard & Poor's:
  • BBB+ (Domestic)
  • BBB+ (Foreign)
  • AAA (T&C Assessment)
  • Outlook: Stable
  • Moody's:
  • A3
  • Outlook: Positive
  • Fitch:
  • A
  • Outlook: Stable
  • Scope Ratings:
  • A+
  • Outlook: Stable
$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.

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