Malta Insights

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TOTAL EMPLOYMENT AT A STABLE 59 PERCENT RATE

The rate of employment among people aged 15 and over stood at 59.4 percent between July and September, up by 0.2 percent from the previous quarter. The rate was 59.3 percent in the third quarter last year, according to figures by the National Statistics Office.

Three-fourths of people aged between 15 and 64 were in employment in Q3 2020, with a rate of 80.8 among men and 65.5 percent among women. The biggest share of persons in employment was observed in the 25-34 age group.

Just under 230,000 held full-time jobs in the period under review while slightly more than 30,000 had part-time jobs as their primary employment. Sell-employment accounted for 16.1 percent of main jobs.

Professional workers made up the largest group of employed persons, making up 21.0 percent of all occupations, followed by service and sales workers with a further 18.8 percent. Skilled agricultural, forestry and fisheries workers account for 0.7 percent, the smallest share.

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LABOUR SUPPLY SURPASSED 235,000 BY MID-2020

Labour supply stood at 235,309 in May 2020, up by 7.9 percent compared to the same month the previous year. Data by the National Statistics Office shows that registered full-time employment also grew in the twelve-month period, rising by 6.7 percent to reach 230,900 gainfully occupied.

Between May 2019 and May 2020, the rate of persons in full-time jobs increased by 7.3 percent among women and by 6.3 percent among men.

People in part-time employment decreased by 8.6 percent from 64,175 in May 0219 to 62,661 a year later. At the same time, however, part-timers with full-time jobs increase by 5.1 percent to a total 30,591. The number of self-employed also went up by 2,523 people. Employment rose in both public and private sectors, with an increase of 3.3 percent year-on-year in the former to a total of 49,504 public sector workers. Registered employment in the private sector reached 181,396, an increase of 7.6 percent compared with May 2019.

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TRADE DEFICIT SLIMS DOWN TO €38M IN NOVEMBER

The balance of imports and exports registered a deficit of €2.0 billion between January and November 2020, a decrease of €1.578 billion compared with the same period the year before. Figures for November by the National Statistics Office show total imports of €365.2 million and total exports of €326.7 million, closing at a deficit of €38.4 million – the narrowest yet in 2020. Corresponding figures for the same month in 2019 stood at €495.6 million in imports and €401.7 million in exports.

Mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials experienced the sharpest decrease in value in November in both imported and exported goods, with imports falling by €79.7 million and exports by €54.1 million.

Over the eleven months from January, the largest decline in imports was registered in machinery and transport equipment (-€1.3 billion) while mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials contributed the biggest drop in value of exports (-€0.4 billion).

Just under 53 percent of total imports between January and November came from the EU, but the value of €2.56 billion represented a decrease of €0.51 billion from the same period in 2019. On the other hand, imports from the UK and China increased by €0.98 billion and €0.10 billion, respectively.

Exports to India grew by a third over the same period from 2019 to reach €21.2 million, the largest increase recorded. Meanwhile, exports to Italy registered the steepest decline, falling from €274.8 million in 2019 to €145.4 million in 2020.

MALTA REGISTERS HIGHEST PRODUCER PRICE INCREASE IN EU

Industrial producer prices in Malta rose by 1.8 percent year-onyear in November 2020, bucking the trend across the European Union. Figures by Eurostat shows that Hungary and Slovenia were the only other two member states to record an increase (both +1.1%) in the same period as EU producer prices fell by an average 1.8 percent.

The energy sector was the only downward trend in the bloc, as prices declined by 7.5 percent from November 2019. Durable consumer goods, on the other hand, contributed the highest increase, surging by 1.5 percent in the same period. Compared with October 2020, industrial producer prices increased by 0.4 percent in both the EU and euro area, but no change was observed in Malta. France and Denmark registered the highest month-on-month increase, 1.7 percent both, while Ireland and Slovakia experienced the sharpest decrease, falling by 1.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

All industry sectors in the EU except capital goods (-0.1%) recorded an increase from October to November. Energy prices soared by 1.4 percent, the highest increase among industrial groupings.

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CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE REGISTERS €100 MILLION DEFICIT IN Q3

The current account of the balance of payments in the third quarter 2020 recorded a deficit of €100 million, down from a €300 million surplus registered in the same period a year earlier. At the same time, however, figures released by Eurostat show that the deficit was lower than the €300 million registered in Q2 2020.

As a whole, the current account balance in the EU reached a surplus of €75.6 billion between July and September 2020, equivalent to 2.6 percent of total GDP, a decrease from the €87.6 billion registered in the previous quarter (2.9% of GDP). In the third quarter 2019, the bloc recorded a surplus of €100.3 billion, making up 2.9 percent of total GDP.

Malta was one of eight EU members to turn a deficit in Q3, with France registering the largest deficit in value terms (-€11.4 billion). Germany, on the other hand, recorded the biggest surplus among the other nineteen economies (€62.9 billion), followed by Italy (€25.3 billion) and the Netherlands (€17.0 billion).