Malta’s population tops 494,000, 7% live in Gozo

Malta’s population stood at 493,559 in 2018, according to regional statistics published by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday.

The update shows that 460,171 people lived in Malta and 33,388 in Gozo.

Persons aged between 30 and 39 years accounted for the highest share of the population of the Malta region while persons aged between 20 and 29 years accounted for the highest share of the population of the Gozo region.

The NSO said the highest increases in population were experienced in the elderly population cohorts while those aged between 10 and 19 years registered the largest decrease in both regions.

During the year, there were 2,831 marriages registered on both islands. This reflected a drop of 103 marriages on the previous year. There were 98 fewer marriages in the Malta region and a decrease of five marriages in Gozo.

The most common household size for people living in the Malta region was the two-person household, whereas in Gozo one-person households were the most common.

Work and income

Affluence was highest in the Western district of Malta with the average household disposable income standing at €32,964 and lowest in Gozo at €23,741.

The average gross annual basic salary was estimated at €18,992.

Persons at-risk-of-poverty for the regions of Malta and Gozo were 17% and 14.1%, respectively.

The regional statistics show that 196,620 Malta residents in 2018 worked on a full-time basis, an increase of 6.6% when compared to 2017. In Gozo, 14,279 residents had a full-time job, an increase of 7.5%.

The figures show that 78.6% and 60.6% of Malta and Gozo residents, respectively, worked in the private sector.

Gozo residents employed on a full-time basis in the Malta region totalled 3,309, of which, 50.2% worked in the public sector and the remaining worked in the private sector.

The NSO said that 29.5% of the unemployed in 2018 lived in the Northern Harbour district, and 39.7% were aged 50 years and over.