The Census of Population and Housing 2021 showed a significant increase of non-Maltese residents in Malta.

The report showed that there has been a steep incline in the country's population since 2011. In the past 10 years, it grew by nearly a quarter, this is the highest average of growth recorded to this date.

The population has increased by 10,000 persons per year. The National Statistics Office explained that this significant increase in the population has a lot to do with immigration. There are 115,449 non-Maltese living in Malta, which amounts to 22.2% of the population. More than one in five persons.

In 2011, the number of non-Maltese living in the country amounted to 20,289 persons, which made up only 4.9% of the population.

The most prominent increase in of non-Maltese was mainly found in the Northern Harbour and Northern districts, with an increase of 44,652 and 22,042 people respectively.

St Pauls Bay saw the most significant rise, with 14,000 non-Maltese residents, this was followed by Sliema and Msida. One-third of these non-Maltese can be found in one of these three localities.

Overall, St Paul's Bay houses 15% of all non-Maltese, which amounts to over 17,000. These numbers contribute to the significant increase in population St Pauls Bay saw, which is now registered as Malta's most populated locality.

Furthermore, the non-Maltese were predominantly males - 59.3%. Their average age was 34.9 years which is 9 years younger than the average for Maltese residents. This average age of non-Maltese is also younger than it was in 2011, when it stood at 40.6 years.

The country retained its place from 2011 as the most densely populated EU Member State. In 2021 it sat at 1,649 persons per square kilometre, which marks an increase of 324 persons per square kilometre (24.5%) from 2011.

In the EU it was recorded that the average number of persons per square kilometre stood at 109. Whilst, the second most densely populated country was The Netherlands, which was still three times less dense than Malta with 507 persons per square kilometre.