Malta has more than 200,000 employed persons, the Maltese government has said in a statement.

"The Labour Force Survey shows that in the third quarter of 2017, employment kept on rising, reaching the record 200,000 mark." This, government said, is a 16% rise over 2012. This increase, the statement read, was nearly completely composed of full-time employment.

"While prior to 2013 only 45% of women had a job, this rose to 56%," government said.

"Thanks to this increase, the rate of unemployment dropped to 4% in the third quarter of 2017."

"This is the lowest unemployment rate since statistics on this issue began being collected."

The survey also shows that in the third quarter, when compared to the same period last year, saw wages increase by 3.6%.

The median wage in September 2017 was €17,858, and in March 2013 was €15,923, government said.