Foreigners three times more likely to identify as LGBTIQ

The ratio of non-Maltese nationals who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or other non-heterosexual orientation was three times higher than Maltese, Census figures show. 

Census figures released last week show that there were 11,073 LGBTQI+ people living in Malta in 2021. These included 5,349 Maltese citizens and 5,724 people hailing from other countries. 

A breakdown of figures by nationality shows that while only 1.6% of Maltese citizens declared themselves as having an LGBTQI+ orientation, the percentage rises to 5.5% among foreign nationals living here. 

The Italian community boasts the highest percentage (6.8%) of LGBTIQ people followed by migrants from all other EU countries (6.6%), the British (5.7%) the Indians (5.6%), the Nepalese (5.2%) and the Albanians (5.1%). 

The lowest percentages are recorded among Libyans and Syrians among which less than 1% identify as LGBTIQ+. 

A breakdown by age shows that the percentage of LGBTIQ people peaks at 5.3% among 30- to 39-year-olds but drops to just 0.3% among over 70-year-olds.   

While a majority (61%) of people identifying as gay or lesbian were males, 63% of people identifying as bisexuals were females.  

Significantly the Census shows that while bisexuals account for nearly half of LGBTIQ+ people in the 16 to 19 cohort, they account for a much smaller proportion among older age brackets. And while bisexuals account for just 0.5% of the general population, the percentage rises to 1.5% among 16- to 19-year-olds. 

Not surprisingly the number of LGBTIQ people peaks in the north harbour area which includes major urban localities like Sliema and Birkirkara where they account for 3.3% of the population. These are also the localities which attract most foreign workers. More than four in 10 of LGBTIQ+ people live in this region. 

Number of Maltese LGBTIQ + people probably higher - MGRM 

Contacted by MaltaToday MGRM Senior Programme Officer Alex Caruana welcomed the fact that for the first time ever the Maltese Census has enumerated the LGBTIQ+ community. 

The figures confirm that Malta’s progressive legislation is becoming a “pull factor” for migrants, some of whom come from countries with restrictive laws, Caruana noted. 

He said the trend is set to continue in the future, noting that Russians and Italians are increasingly enquiring about the prospect of living in Malta in view of restrictive laws in their countries. 

Caruana also noted that the increased percentage of LBTIQ+ people in the north harbour area and among those aged between 30 and 39 years reflects trends observable in daily life. 

“The breakdown by age, gender and region broadly reflects what we see every day,” he said but emphasised that the percentage of LGBTIQ+ people among the Maltese could reflect a reluctance to declare their sexual orientation. “My impression from daily life is that there are far more LGBTIQ people in Malta.” 

The under representation could have been more pronounced among older people, some of which are still closeted or even married to an opposite sex partner. Another reason could also be that in some cases parents filled the Census form for their children.  

Caruana argued that the next Census will also include more information on transgender people and people who neither identify themselves as males or females. 

In a Census held in the United Kingdom in the same year (2021) 3.3% of the population identified themselves to be LGBTIQ+.  These included 1.5% who identified themselves as gay or lesbian and 1.3% who identified themselves as bisexual.  

In contrast in Malta only 0.5% of all those living in Malta identified as bisexuals while 1.9% identified as gay or lesbian. 

While in Malta the question on sexual orientation was compulsory, in the UK Census 7.5% did not reply to the ‘voluntary’ question. 

The 3.3% figure for LGBTIQ people in the UK was also widely considered to underrepresent the percentage of LGBTIQ+ people in the population. Stonewall, a LGBTIQ charity welcomed the recognition of the LGBTIQ community in the Census but argued that Census results are likely influenced by under-reporting and estimate that the actual figure of LGBTIQ people in the UK  is between 5% and 7%.