Performance of the economy

The cost of living increase for 2021 is €1.75 per week. In line with recent years, this increase will be granted in full to employees and pensioners and pro-rated to students.

Estimated tax revenue for 2020 is expected to be €4bn (down from an original estimate of €4.9bn) and is expected to rise to €4.6bn by 2021.

The deficit for 2020 is expected to amount to around 9.4% of GDP (down from an expected surplus of 1.4% of GDP). For 2021, this is expected to fall to 5.9% of GDP.

The unemployment rate as at August 2020 stood at 4.1%. The unemployment rate remains below the EU average rate which stands at 8.1%.

The labour supply from 2015 to the start of 2020 increased by 30%. The total number of persons available in the workforce in January 2020 stood at around 231k.

During the first 8 months of 2020, €950m Government Stocks were issued on the primary market.

Malta ranked 5th out of all EU Member States in 2019 in the Digital Economy and Society Index 2020 Ranking.

The 12-month moving average rate of inflation in August 2020 stood at 1.1%. 

Government debt at the end of first quarter of 2020 amounted to around 44.4% of GDP and is expected to increase to 55% of GDP by the end of 2020.

GDP for 2020 is expected to be €12.5bn, representing a decrease of 7.4% in real terms from 2019.

Inbound tourists up to July 2020 amounted to 419k, down from 1.5m for the same period in 2019.

The Maltese average household income for 2019 increased from 2018 and stands closer to the EU average.