Economy grows at slower pace between April and June

The economy’s rate of growth slowed down between April and June 2019 compared to the first three months of the year, statistics show.

National Statistics Office figures published on Friday show that, in the second quarter of the year, real GDP grew by 4% compared to the same period in 2018.

In the first quarter of the year, real GDP increased by 5.4% compared to the corresponding period last year.

This indicates that while the economy has kept growing in Q2 2019, the pace of this had slowed down compared to Q1.

Provisional estimates indicate that the GDP for the second quarter of 2019 amounted to €3,275.1 million, an increase of €204 million, or 6.6% in nominal terms, when compared to the corresponding period last year. In volume terms, GDP went up by 4%.

Second highest GDP growth rate in eurozone

In a statement today, the government said that the economic rate of growth in the first half of the year - calculated by taking an average of the growth rates over Q1 and Q2 - was of 4.7%. This, the government said, was triple the average economic growth rate of the EU.

In both the first and second quarters of 2019, Malta’s growth rate was the second highest in the eurozone, behind Ireland.

The government pointed out that two factors main factors behind the strong growth rate were the increase in private consumption and the positive performance of businesses.

In terms of private consumption, this was driven by the substantial increase in workers’ pay, with salaries in the first half of this year registering a €140 million, or 6%, increase compared to the equivalent period in 2018. This led to a rise of almost 4.6% in consumption after the effect of the increase in the cost of living is factored in.

Business profits were up by €260 million, or 9.5%, in the first six months of 2019 compared to the same time last year, leading to a combined private and public sector investment of €959 in the first half of the year, the government added.

This, it said, was €119 more than what was invested in the corresponding period in 2018. Moreover, it was also the second high level of investment ever observed in the first half of any year since statistics started being kept.

Divided according to sector, economic growth was strongest in the professional and administrative services area, which saw an €82 million or 11% increase. Gaming experienced a growth of €74 million, or 9%, while the retail, hotels and restaurants area grew by €69 million, or 6%.