Youth unemployment jumps by 2.2 points in a year

Youth unemployment rose by 2.2 percentage points in August compared with the same month last year, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The unemployment rate among people aged 15 to 24 stood at 9.7% in August 2026, up from 7.5% in August 2025.

Among people aged 25 to 74, the unemployment rate stood at 2.9%, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from 2.1% a year earlier.

Overall, Malta’s unemployment rate rose to 3.4% in August, compared with 2.5% in the same month last year.

In total, an estimated 11,973 people were unemployed in August, a slight increase from the 11,921 recorded in July.

People aged 25 to 74 accounted for the largest share of the unemployed population, with 9,259 people, or 77.3% of the total.

Meanwhile, 2,714 people aged between 15 and 24 were unemployed, accounting for 22.7% of the total. This was up from 2,074 unemployed youths in August 2025.

Unemployment was slightly higher among men, at 3.5%, compared with 3.3% among women.

Compared with July 2026, the unemployment rate among men increased by 0.1 percentage points, while the rate among women fell by the same amount.

The NSO derives its monthly unemployment rates using a benchmarking model combining Jobsplus administrative data on employment and unemployment with quarterly Labour Force Survey data.