The estimated total population of Malta and Gozo at the end of 2017 stood at 475,701, up by 3.3 per cent when compared to 2016, the NSO said today.
World Population Day: 11 July 2018
Persons under 18 made up 16.6 per cent of the total population, while a further 18.8 per cent were aged 65 and over. Of these, 2,784 persons – 1,958 females and 826 males – were over 89. The population increase was mainly due to net migration (immigration less emigration). The population of Malta accounts for 0.1 per cent of the total population of the EU.
Resident live births registered during 2017 decreased by 3.5 per cent over the previous year. 3.2 per cent of parents who gave birth during 2017 were teenagers (under 20 years of age). On the other hand, the majority of parents who gave birth, 65.2 per cent, were aged between 25 and 34 years. Resident deaths increased by 6.9 per cent over the previous year. Of the 3,571 deaths registered during 2017, 63.3 per cent were persons aged 75 years and over.
There were 3,072 marriages occurring in 2017 which were registered in Malta and Gozo (including marriages among foreigners). Civil marriages accounted for 54.6 per cent of the total marriages registered in 2017, an increase of 3.1 per cent over the previous year. Out of the total marriages registered, 20.8 per cent were among spouses aged between 25 and 29 years. 42.4 per cent of total marriages registered were between spouses within the same age group. On the other hand, there were 1,227 registered marriages, or 39.9 per cent, in which one spouse was within one age group higher than that of the other.