Malta's economy grew four times as fast as that of the Eurozone in the first quarter of 2015, the government said in a statement.

GDP figures published by Eurostat show that seasonally-adjusted GDP rose by 1% in the Eurozone during the first quarter of the year when compared to the corresponding period of 2014, while the EU's economy grew by 1%.

Eurostat did not include first quarter figures for Malta in its publication, but these were included in a publication by the National Statistics Office yesterday. The NSO's provisional estimates indicated that the GDP for the first quarter of 2015 grew by 4% in real terms when compared to the first quarter of 2014.

In a statement issued by the Department of Information, the government highlighted that the European Commission had forecast that Malta and Ireland would register the highest economic growth rates in the EU this year, at 3.6%, pointing out that Malta's first quarter performance substantially exceeded expectations.

Malta's economic performance also exceeded the Central Bank of Malta's projections of a 3.4% growth rate, as well as the 3.5% growth rate predicted in the government's own budget.

The government highlighted that this economic growth was spurred by two main factors, namely an increase in private consumption and a substantial improvement in the balance of payments.

It said that the increase in private consumption reflected a significant improvement in families' income, while the balance of payments reflected a drop of exports and imports which reflected a reduction in the trade of fuel. The government pointed out that when fuel is excluded, industrial exports actually increased.

The government said that as a result of a growing private sector, it could increase its expenditure on essential services and infrastructure without increasing debt, stating that its prudence was evident in the fact that the proportion of its expenditure remained stable relative to the economy at 21%.

Official statistics, it concluded, confirmed that the government's aim to achieve one of the best economic growth rates in Europe is being met, stating that in the coming months, it would be working on additional measures to increase economic growth whose effects would be felt across society.