Malta's population rose to 588,254 by end 2025: NSO

Malta's population reached an estimated 588,254 at the end of 2025, an increase of 2.4% over the previous year.

According to the latest NSO figures, net migration – the difference between immigration and emigration – totalled 13,906 people during 2025, accounting for the overwhelming majority of the increase in the resident population. Non-EU citizens represented 78.1% of all net migrants, while men made up 62.5% of the total.

Although net migration increased by 31% compared with 2024, both immigration and emigration declined over the same period.

Men accounted for 53.3% of Malta's resident population at the end of 2025. Overall, males outnumbered females across all broad age groups up to the age of 69, while women formed the majority among those aged 70 and over. The gap widened significantly in older age groups, with women outnumbering men by almost two to one among residents aged 85 and above.

The figures also show Malta's population continues to age. People aged 65 and over accounted for 18.4% of residents, while those under the age of 18 made up 14.3%. There were 4,005 people aged 90 or over, including 2,758 women and 1,247 men.

Natural population growth continued to slow as births fell and deaths increased. Resident live births declined by 0.8% during 2025, while resident deaths rose by 1.4%.

As a result, the natural increase in the population – the difference between births and deaths – almost halved, falling from 193 in 2024 to just 98 in 2025, a decline of 49.2%.

Among parents who had children during the year, the largest group (38.2%) were aged between 30 and 34 at the time of birth. Meanwhile, of the 4,240 resident deaths recorded in 2025, more than seven in ten (71.5%) involved people aged 75 or older.

Maltese citizens continued to make up the majority of the resident population, accounting for 68.9%, while non-Maltese citizens represented 31.1%.

The age profiles of the two groups differed considerably. The Maltese population was relatively evenly spread across the age groups between 30 and 79 years, whereas the foreign population was concentrated in the working-age brackets. More than a third (34.8%) of non-Maltese residents were aged between 30 and 39, while 22.1% were aged 20 to 29 and 18.7% were aged 40 to 49.

Regionally, the Western district recorded the highest proportion of Maltese citizens, at 85.4%, followed by the Southern Harbour district (79.3%) and the South Eastern district (79.2%). The highest shares of foreign citizens were found in the Northern Harbour district (43.9%) and the Northern district (38.8%).

Population density remained highest in the central and harbour areas. Tas-Sliema was the most densely populated locality, with 18,186 residents per square kilometre, followed by Tal-Pietà (16,346) and L-Isla (15,060). Other densely populated localities included Il-Gżira (12,746), Il-Fgura (12,488) and Il-Ħamrun (11,754).

At the other end of the scale, the sparsest populations were recorded in L-Għasri, with 104 residents per square kilometre, followed by San Lawrenz (226) and L-Imdina (227).