The Regional Statistics published on Monday by the National Statistics Office (NSO) highlighted the country’s ageing population and decreasing birth rate, as the highest increases in the population between 2011 and 2021 were seen in people aged over 65.

The lowest increase was in turn noted in the 10- to 19-year-old age group, NSO statistics showed.

The statistics also showed that the old age-dependency ratio in Malta stood at 27.6%, meaning that there are approximately three working-age adults for every elderly person aged 65 or over.

Despite Malta’s natural population change maintaining a positive trend throughout the years, 2015 and 2021 saw more deaths than births in Gozo, statistics showed. This has led to a negative population growth rate for the two years.

The highest increase to the foreign population in the country was registered in the cohort of people aged 30 to 39 years old.

Statistics focusing on households and their income have shown that marriages in both Malta and Gozo declined from 2016.

In 2016, more than 3,000 marriages were registered, with the number gradually decreasing to a little over 2,500 in 2019. 2020 saw the least marriages due to the pandemic, with just over 1,000 marriages. The number rose significantly in 2021, with 2,276 marriages.

The most common household in 2021 across Malta and Gozo was a two-person household, whilst the average household disposable income was the highest among households in the Western district, standing at €39,063.

The lowest average household disposable income was registered in the Northern Harbour district, statistics showed.

Statistics showed that state schools were the most popular among primary students, with 58.1% attending state schools from the 26,941 students enrolled in primary education in the 2020/2021 scholastic year.

A significant proportion of the 21,790 secondary education students were observed to be attending schools within their own district of residence.

Among the students in post-secondary general education, the majority (76.8%) attended state-run institutions out of the total 5,785 students.

Additionally, there was a 3.9% rise in the number of students enrolled in tertiary education, with 23,159 students taking full-time or part-time courses during the 2020/2021 academic year. Females made up the majority, accounting for 56.3% of the student population.

Regarding the labour market, the statistics showed that Malta had 230,034 individuals employed full-time in 2021.

The highest number of employees were registered in the wholesale and retail trade sectors, followed by motor vehicle repair, transportation and storage, as well as accommodation and food service activities. In Gozo, 13,180 people were employed on a full-time basis.

Furthermore, 57.3% of Gozo residents working in Malta were employed in the public sector, statistics showed.

The average annual basic salary in 2021 was €19,755. Males had an average salary of €20,610, while females earned €18,684.

In terms of tourism, there were 2,286,597 recorded tourist arrivals in the previous year.

More than half of these arrivals came to Malta using low-cost airlines. However, these figures were significantly impacted by travel restrictions imposed due to the pandemic.

Tourists who only visited Malta during their vacation stayed an average of 7.1 nights in 2022, showing a decrease of 1.4 nights compared to the previous year.

They predominantly stayed in rented accommodation establishments and had an estimated total expenditure of €1.9 billion.

On the other hand, the number of tourists exclusively visiting Gozo increased by 116.4% compared to 2021, reaching 64,687 individuals. These tourists spent an average of 9.9 nights in Gozo, which was 1.9 nights less than the previous year. Their total expenditure during their vacation amounted to approximately €62.4 million.