73.6% of Maltese have not been to a cultural site in 12 months, survey finds

Eurostat survey of participation in cultural or sport activities finds Maltese with one of the lowest rates of attendance to cultural and historical sites

A recent Eurostat study has found that 73.6% of Maltese citizens did not visit one cultural site in the year 2015.

The report outlines cultural sites as historical monuments, museums, art galleries or archaeological temples.

Malta placed 22nd out of 28 European countries in the ‘Frequency of participation in cultural activities’ study, which looked into the income quintile and degree of urbanisation in each country from 2006-2015.

Malta is one of the least likely countries to attend sports events, as the study found that 78.2% of Maltese citizens have not been to a sports event in 2015, making Malta the third country least likely to attend the events after Bulgaria and Italy.

The country also has one of the lowest rates of attendance to live performances, as the study went on to report that 70.5% of Maltese have not been to theatres or concerts in over a year.

Iceland, Switzerland and Finland were the three countries that most frequently attended live performances between 2006-2015, whereas Bulgaria was least likely to have an audience, with 80.6% of its residents reporting that they have not gone to a live performance in over 12 months.

Cinemagoers also decreased in the last few years, as Eurostat reports that only 14.1% visited cinemas in 2015.

An NSO study found that the number of active museums in Malta and Gozo stood at 72 in 2015, eight more than the previous year.  In 2014, 2.3 million admissions were reported, of which 60% were adults and senior citizens, the NSO survey reported.