The news release is the follow up to last year’s news release on youth organisations, published by the NSO’s Culture Statistics programme. It presents a clear picture of cultural participation within the youth organisations of Malta and Gozo, focusing on membership, participation and finance.

The NSO said that the greatest percentage of members of youth organisations, 20.5 per cent, were aged 15-19 years, followed by young persons aged five to nine years with 19.5 per cent.

The majority of members were males, in fact they accounted for 68.5 per cent of members. However, female participation is on the increase; females accounted for 31.5 per cent of members, as compared to 30.4 per cent in 2002.

Between the years 2002 and 2003, voluntary participation in youth organisations increased by 2.5 per cent. Of the volunteers, 65.1 per cent were members of the organisation itself. 47.4 per cent of all volunteers were females – an increase of 0.6 over 2002.

The sphere of youth organisation activities is dominated by religious activities with a share of 21.2 per cent, followed by social activities with 18.7 per cent, educational activities with 18.3 per cent and cultural activities with 16.6 per cent.

Of the total youth population aged five-29 years, in the year 2003, 34.1 per cent, or 46,896 of 137,703 were engaged in various youth organisations, an increase of 0.5 per cent over 2002.

The age brackets of 5-9 years and 15-19 years highlighted the most interested groups in youth organisation membership, with 44.3 per cent and 40.0 per cent respectively of persons in these age brackets being members of a youth organisation.

Persons employed with youth organisations varied only slightly between 2002 and 2003. Full-time employees increased from 10 to 13, while part-time employees increased from 43 to 44. Youth organisations are more structured on a voluntary basis rather than employment.

Expenditure on youth organisations increased in 2003, from Lm371,093 in 2002 to Lm384,099, an increase of 3.5 per cent. Over half of this expenditure was classified as ‘other expenditure’, that is, it did not fall into any of the listed categories.

This included expenditure on activities, donations to charity and everyday running expenses.

Income by youth organisations has also increased, from Lm391,698 in 2002 to Lm422,733 in 2003, an increase of 7.9 per cent. Again, the lion’s share of income was from ‘other income’, such as income from organised activities and through fund raising. 26.0 per cent of income was also generated from private donations. In the year 2003, youth organisations as a whole reported a net profit of Lm38,634.