No politics please – Maltese talk less about politics than other Europeans

The percentage of Maltese who never talk to their friends and relatives about national politics has dropped by 7% since autumn, in an indication that the political crisis has had an impact on everyday conversations.

The survey was conducted among 1,000 respondents in each of the 27 EU Member States and six candidate countries by Eurobarometer between 12 and 27 May.

But surprisingly, despite the daily political spectacle during the past months, the percentage of those who speak frequently to their friends on national politics has dropped by a point. 

On the other hand, the number of those who occasionally talk about politics with their friends has increased by 8 points since autumn, before the beginning of the current political saga.

This suggests that although interest in politics has grown since autumn when a staggering 39% never talked with their friends on politics, people have not become absorbed in politics with the number of those who frequently talk about politics actually falling. 

Moreover, despite the increase in occasional talk about politics, politics does not feature in the conversations of nearly a third (32%) of Maltese people. 

The survey shows that the percentage of Maltese who never talk about national politics in their conversation with friends is higher than the European average of 24%.

The survey also shows that 47% of Maltese never discuss European politics with their friends and only 11% talk frequently about this subject.

The highest political interest in Europe is found in crisis ridden Greece where only 8% never talk about Greek politics with their friends and a staggering 53% talk frequently about this theme. 

 On the other hand, fellow Portugal registered the lowest interest in national politics, with over 41% never talking about politics with friends.  Ireland, Spain,  Romania and the United Kingdom were the only other EU Member States reporting a lower interest in national politics than Malta.

The Greeks were also  the most likely to discuss European politics frequently with friends and relatives (36%) and the least likely never to discuss continental politics (16%). On the other hand, the British were the least likely to talk about European politics.