Malta Insights

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AVERAGE COMMUTE TAKES 26 MINUTES

A third of people in employment in 2019 spent between 15 minutes and half an hour travelling from home to work, excluding and other detours. Data by the European Labour Force Survey and published by the National Statistics Office, shows that the average commute in Malta took 26 minutes, as 23 percent of workers reported a time range of under 15 minutes per journey and another 23 percent said it took them between 30 minutes to 45 minutes.

Commutes by workers residing in Gozo and the South Eastern region took 29 minutes on average, seven minutes longer than the average of those from the Norther Harbour region. Employees residing in the Southern Harbour region took 27 minutes per commute on average, while home-to-work trips by people from the Western and Northern regions clocked an average of 26 minutes.

The longest commutes were experienced by residents of Gozo travelling to the Northern Harbour, averaging 79 minutes per trip. No data was available for commutes in the opposite direction, but workers from the Northern Harbour region travelling to the Northern region spent 30 minutes per trip.

The shortest commute outside the area of residence was from the Southern Harbour region to the South Eastern region, at 22 minutes per trip. These workers spent the same time travelling if the place of work was in the same region.

Eight in every ten commuters travelled by private while nine percent caught a bus or minivan. A tenth of employees made the journey to work on foot.

DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS INCREASE IN 2020

Mobile payments, buying local, and online grocery shopping increased heavily last year, according to a survey published by the Malta Communications Authority. The research detected a 2 per cent increase in internet usage in 2020, when compared to the previous survey in 2016. According to the study, 82 per cent of internet users access the internet on their smartphones whereas 74 per cent do so on their laptop or PC. Less than half of the internet users reach for a tablet to access the internet.

This is a significant change from a few years back, when just 59 per cent of internet users carried out internet-related activities on their smartphones. Nowadays, most consumers are constantly connected and use multiple devices interchangeably. An interesting trend seems to be emerging amongst those aged between 18 and 54, as these intensify their smartphone use in conducting internet banking and effecting payments.

THREE IN TEN INACTIVE WOMEN CHOOSE PERSONAL LIFE

Just under 32 percent of inactive women in the final quarter of last year said they were not working or looking for a job because of personal or family responsibilities. Data published by the National Statistics Office shows that there were 100,295 inactive women between October and December 2020.

The number of inactive men stood at slightly over 64,700, with more than 46,000 (71.1%) having either reached retirement or taken early retirement. Buy contrast, the share of women who were inactive for retirement reasons was 24.5 percent.

A third of women cited other reasons for inactivity while 10.2 percent said they were in education or training. Men in education or training accounted for 18.5 percent while less than eight percent cited other reasons. bThe total number of inactive women and men was 165,008 for the period under survey, an increase of 343 from the same quarter in 2019. Inactive persons in the over 65 age

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group accounted for 52.5 percent in 2020, up from 51 percent the year before. The age bracket with the lowest rate of inactivity was the 45-54 range (4.7%) followed by 25-35 age bracket (4.9%).

HOUSE PRICES UP BY 2.5 PERCENT IN LAST QUARTER OF 2020

House prices in Malta rose by 2.5 percent from the third to the fourth quarter 2020, almost double the average increase registered in the EU. The House Price Index released by Eurostat shows that Malta had the seventh highest quarter-on-quarter expansion in the final three months last year.

The highest increases were recorded in in Cyprus and Luxembourg (both +4.7%), Lithuania (+3.9%) and Estonia (+3.8%). Spain and Hungary were the only member states to register decreases at 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Compared with the fourth quarter 2019, house prices in Malta grew by 1.7 percent, an increase below the average 5.7 percent experienced in the EU as a whole. Prices in Luxembourg jumped by 16.7 percent year-on-year, the highest among the 27 member states, while rises in Denmark (+9.8%) and Lithuania (+9.4%) completed the highest three on the index.

No EU country registered a decrease from Q4 2019, but prices rose least in Ireland (+0.6%) and Italy (+1.6%).

PUBLIC DEFICIT EDGES PAST 10 PER CENT OF GDP

The government registered a €1.3 billion deficit in 2020, equivalent to 10.1 per cent of GDP. The General Government debt amounted to €6,960.0 million or 54.3 per cent of GDP. The balance is calculated as the difference between total revenue (€4,677.8 million) and expenditure (€5,977.9 million) of General Government. When comparing 2020 to 2019, total revenue decreased by €378.1 million, while total expenditure increased by €972.1 million.

The fiscal results for 2020 were largely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent government measures to mitigate the economic, social and health risks associated with the pandemic.

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NINE STUDENTS FOR EVERY TEACHER IN SCHOOLS

The overall ratio between teachers and the student population stood at 9.2 in the academic year 2018-2019. Data by the National Statistics Office shows that the ratio was lowest in state schools with 8.3 students per teacher. It rose to 11.2 in church schools and 12.4 in private schools.

The total number of teachers and academic staff was 9,317, an increase of 2.0 percent from the preceding year. Slightly over a quarter of these were engaged in upper secondary and post-secondary education while 22 percent worked in primary education. Nearly 2,000 teachers taught at lower secondary levels and 876 were engaged in pre-primary education. Academic staff at tertiary institutions numbered 1,958.

Almost 3,000 teachers and academic staff were in the 30-39 age group, the largest cohort, followed by the 40-49 bracket numbering 2,389 professionals. Slightly less than 2,000 were under 29 years while staff aged between 50 and 59 numbered 1,464. A further 520 were 60 and over.

Non-teaching staff increased by 1.8 percent in 2018-2019 to 8,121. Maintenance personnel made 650 of this group, the largest category followed by teacher aides (597) and school level management (338). Administrative personnel decreased by 17 percent year-on-year, counting 192 by the end of the 2019 academic year.

Further reductions were observed in pedagogical support workers, down from 79 to 73, and health and social support staff, from 44 to 41.