Malta-owned foreign business grows by 12% in turnover in 2012

In 2012, turnover and employment of Maltese-owned foreign affiliates grew by 12.3 and 8.7 per cent respectively.

Maltese-owned foreign affiliates generated €305.4 million in 2012, up by 12.3 per cent over the previous year. Turnover in the manufacturing and construction sectors decreased by 4.1 per cent to €3.5 million, while turnover in the services sector grew by 12.5 per cent to €301.9 million. Accommodation and food services activities (+8.8 per cent) and Education (+50.5 per cent) were the dominant sectors with a combined share of 77.3 per cent of the total services sector.

In 2012, Maltese-owned enterprises abroad employed just over 5,500 persons in foreign affiliates, an increase of 8.7 per cent over 2011. By share of employment, the services sector dominated with 4,974 employees (+8.0 per cent) or 90.0 per cent of total employment.

Accommodation and food service activities accounted for 4,048 employees (+2.0 per cent), followed by employment in Education with 463 employees (+13.2 per cent). These two sectors combined made up 90.7 per cent of employment in the services sector in 2012.

Turnover of Maltese-owned foreign affiliates was mainly generated in Europe, with a total of €241.3 million, or 79.0 per cent of total turnover. Turnover generated in Europe grew by 5.8 per cent when compared to 2011.

Additionally, employment of Maltese-owned foreign affiliates was predominant in Europe with 3,838 employees, or 69.4 per cent of total employment. However, employment in Europe declined by 0.3 per cent over the previous year. On the other hand, employment in America increased to 503 persons (+108.7 per cent) over 2011.