54.6% of Maltese believe it is the solution to bring in foreigners to the country to do certain jobs they do not want to do, yet many are not comfortable with the mix of cultures in Maltese society, the State of the Nation survey showed.

The results of the fourth edition of the annual national survey of the State of the Nation, commissioned by the Office of the President, were presented on Thursday at the Verdala Palace by statistician and lecturer at the University of Malta Vincent Marmarà.

The study was conducted during the recent electoral campaign ahead of the European Parliament and Local Council elections in May and included the participation of 1,064 people aged 16 and over. The margin of error was that of +/-3%.

Over 37% of the participants said they were not comfortable with multiculturalism in Malta, while 33.8% remained neutral, on a question on whether they felt comfortable with multiculturalism, with the average this year being that of 2.76, a decrease from last year’s average of 2.76.

Youths aged between 26 and 35 years of age are those who are most comfortable with the mix of cultures in Malta’s society, however, no big differences were noticed.

The survey then asked participants questions about the country’s economic model, and the need for foreigners working in Malta for economic growth.

The majority of people had a neutral position when asked if foreigners are needed for the economy to grow. 36.7% remained neutral, while the average was that of 2.92. 17.9% said that foreigners are not needed for the country’s economy to grow, while 15.4% said that they are very needed.

Asked if there is the need for foreigners to work various services in the country, similarly, 36.9% of participants had a neutral position. 14.8% said that the country does not need foreigners at all, while 16.3% said it does need them in various services.

A majority of 54.6% of Maltese agreed that foreigners are to be brought to do unwanted jobs, while 35.2% disagree. 10.3% said they did not know. More people who have a higher income from their employment said that foreigners should do the Maltese’ unwanted jobs.

A score of 4.58 (out of five) was given to a question on whether tourism is the sector which is most important for the country’s economic growth, followed by shops and restaurants, financial services, and renewable energy.

Construction was considered to be the least important sector for the economy’s growth, with a score of 2.97 (out of 5).

42% of Maltese said they would consider voting for different parties in the future

42% of Maltese people said that they would consider voting for different parties in the future, a 3.3% increase to that of the year 2023 (38.7%), the survey showed.

42.9% said that they would not consider voting for a different party, while 15.1% did not know. The younger the person, the more the chances they would vote for a different party in the future, the survey showed.

Moreover, over three fourths (76.4%) of the participants said they will vote in the next general elections, a higher percentage than that of 2023, which was 69.9%. 10.3% said that they would not, and 13.3% said they did not know. The number of undecided voters seems to have decreased from that of 2023, where 18.8% said they did not know if they would vote.

Participants were asked how important Maltese politics was for them, which has decreased over the years. While 48.3% of people in 2021 said politics was important to them, in 2024, only 33.7% believe so.

More people over the years have also lost total interest in politics, with 12.9% in 2021, to 31.3% in 2024. Marmara said that the results indicate that listening to politics has bothered people, noting also that the data was collected during an electoral campaign, where normally, there is increased political interest.

Those under the 25 years of age were the least people who said that politics greatly interested them (17.3%), the survey showed.

The sentiment that people are giving less importance to politics was also shown in the question asking participants if they considered the opinion of their political party before making a personal opinion on various issues.

42.8% said that they do not make their decisions based on their political party’s beliefs, while 27.2% said that they consider their party’s beliefs.

Participants aged 66 and over were those who formed their opinion on several themes based on their affiliated political party’s beliefs, amounting to 48.2%. 81.3% of those aged 16 to 25 said that they do not consider their party’s opinion.

The survey showed that in 2024, 79.6% of Maltese identify themselves with a political party which matches their ideas, a decrease from the 90% in 2021, but consistent over the years.

20.4% of Maltese form their ideas based on the political party they identify with.

While in the past, more Maltese said they always voted for the same party (82.7% in 2021), 69.5% in 2024 said they always voted for the same party. 30.5% said they did not.

More than half (52.7%) of respondents disagreed with the phrase that the two large political parties are the same, with the majority making a distinction between the two.

25.2% of respondents said that they have gone to a politician when they needed something, which was, however a decrease from previous years, where 30.9% said they had approached a political figure for something in 2023. 74.8% respondents said they never went to a politician for something they needed.

Justice is most important value for Maltese

Justice is the value most important for the Maltese in 2024, with an average of 1.81 after participants were asked to mark ‘1’ for most important, and ‘4’ for least important. The values were justice, freedom, equality and solidarity, with the least important being solidarity.

The number of people who plan their lives has decreased considerably over the years, from 71% in 2021 to 47.2% in 2024, while more people are living day by day (52.8% as compared to 29% in 2021).

Those who pay the highest tax on income are those who plan their lives, (76.5%) while those who are over 66 years old are the least who plan their lives (30.1%).

The survey showed that in 2022, there was a substantial increase in those who say they feel content with their lives (77%). This number decreased to 65.5% in 2024, consistent with last year's.

32.1% in 2024 said that their lives could be better. 69.4% of respondents said that they felt they have accomplished in life, while 4% said they had not. 25.6% said they could have accomplished more. Those who are separated or divorced are the least likely to think they have accomplished in their life (56%).

Asked if they believed they would be living better in a year’s time, as compared to today, 45.5% of respondents believed so, an increase from the 39.1% recorded last year. 35.5% said they did not now, while 19.1% said they did not believe so.

Participants were also asked whether they believed their rights were being protected, where 51.8% responded with ‘yes’, a decrease from previous years. 35.1% believed their rights could be better protected.

The survey showed that primarily, the Maltese’ standard of living is average (80.6%), while 12.2% believe their standard of living is higher than average, being mostly comprised of people with higher levels of education, and those who pay the highest amount of tax on income. 7.2% believe it is below the average.

When asked about changes to their financial situation, 29.2% of respondents said that it is now better compared to that of last year, while 22.6% said their financial situation has worsened. 48.2% said it remained the same.

People believe in God, but religion is less important

The Maltese are still very much family-centred, where 66.8% said they always discuss their problems with the relatives they live with. In 2024, 64.4% said that they do not seek help on their personal problems from colleagues at their workplace.

Important life decisions are also discussed most with family members (76.4%) and 45.5% make their important life decisions alone. 10.3% consult with friends, and 2% turn to work colleagues. Only 1.1% of respondents said they discuss important life decisions with professionals such as councillors, psychologists and social workers.

The Maltese also consider their employment’s income to be the most important factor in their work, with an average of 2.30 (where participants were asked to mark ‘1’ as most important, and ‘5’ as least important). This was followed by the satisfaction one receives from their job, job security, flexibility of hours, and appreciation in the workplace.

The absolute majority of respondents said they believed in God (88.9%) in the questions pertaining religion, whilst 8.2% said that they did not. More than 20% of those aged 16 to 25 said they did not believe in God, and 14.5% of those with a tertiary level of education said they did not believe in God.

The survey showed that 56.7% of Maltese consider religion to be important in their lives, while 31.5% said this was less so for them. 10.4% of respondents said that religion was not at all important to them.

Those with a lower education level were the majority who said that religion was important in their lives (83.3%), while importance to religion decreased for those who earned more income.

In fact, less people consider religion when making decisions on right and wrong, with 38.9% recorded this year, a decrease from last year’s 49%.

More people wish to have been born and raised in another country

While the majority of respondents feel part of all Maltese people (40.4%), there was an increase in people who wished to have been born and raised in another country (25% in 2024 as compared to 18.5% in 2023).

Less people feel associated with the rest of Europe this year compared to last year, reducing from 25.3% to 20.5%. 39.1% associate themselves more with the town or city they live in.

The majority of Maltese said they did not wish they were born in another country (70.5%), while 4.5% said they did not know. Those under 25 years of age are those who most wish to have been born and raised in another country (42.7%).

The majority of Maltese consider the Maltese language as the main language for the Maltese (71.3%), which has decreased slightly over the years. 7.6% consider English to be their main language, an increase from the 3.6% recorded in 2023.

20.3% of respondents consider both Maltese and English as their primary languages, the survey showed.

22.6% of respondents said that the Maltese media does not report or discuss subjects which concern them, while 54.8% were in the middle. 13.8% said that reported subjects concerned them, a decrease from last year’s opinion (21.8%). Compared to previous years, Maltese media’s popularity has decreased.

Television, and portal news links on Facebook remained the most popular modes of media for Maltese. There was a decrease, over the years, however, in those who followed online newspaper portals, (41.6% in 2021 compared to 24.9% in 2024).

87.1% of people also believe that events occurring abroad are affecting Malta much more than events which occurred 10 years ago, similar to precedent years.

73.3% of respondents said they discuss local current affairs face to face. 76.9% communicate with their families mostly in person, while more people communicate with their friends on social media and messaging apps (34%)

When asked how ready respondents are to trust a fellow Maltese, 45.5% remained neutral, while 18.1% said that they do not trust anybody. Only 6.1% said they would trust anyone.

For the Maltese, the absolute majority (84.7%) said that respect and values are more taught by the family, while 15.3% said this is taught at school.

The survey also showed that the village feasts, Maltese traditional food and the Good Friday procession are the most important for them in Maltese culture, whilst Carnival was voted least important.