Workers in financial and insurance services sector earn the most

Data published by the National Statistics Office yet again confirms that the employees who earn the most are those engaged by the financial and insurance services industry.

At an average annual basic salary of €29,445, the sector is the highest paid in Malta, followed by the information and communication industry (€23,033). Employees in the construction industry are the least paid, with the annual basic salary averaging at €15,789.

The gap between occupations is relatively high: managers earn an average annual salary of €30,299 whilst persons employed in elementary occupations earn an average of €11,771.

Maltese employees work an average of 41 hours a week.

The Labour Force Survey, published on Tuesday, indicates that total employment during the first quarter stood at 192,277 – this figure accounts to more than half the population aged 15 and over.

The number of unemployed persons stood at 8,359 (2.3 per cent) while inactive persons totalled 166,385 (45.3 per cent). The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 68.7 per cent with the highest rate recorded among persons aged 25-54 (82.6 per cent).

On average, out of every 100 persons aged between 15 to 64 years, 66 were employed. The male employment rate for this age bracket was 77.9 per cent while that for females stood at 53.0 per cent.

Self-employed persons accounted for 13.3 per cent of all persons with a main job. The majority of employed persons worked on a full-time basis totalling 164,727 and 27,550 had a part-time job as their primary employment. Results show that, on average, full-timers work 41.3 hours while part-timers work 23.5 hours per week.

According to the Labour Force Survey, 56.7 per cent of the 15 plus population have attained a low level of education. This comprises persons with less than 5 ordinary level or equivalent qualifications. Among the employed population 26.0 per cent have a tertiary level education.