In 2023, the majority of persons living in private households perceived their general health as being good (79.5%), with 29.6% of people stating that they suffer from a chronic illness or condition, the National Statistics Office said.

The European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey is an annual exercise undertaken by the National Statistics Office (NSO) among persons residing in private households in Malta and Gozo. The survey collects several indicators related to general health and well-being.

"In 2023, 79.5% of the persons living in private households perceived their general health as being good. Males were more likely to perceive their general health as being good (82.2%), when compared to their female counterparts (76.5%). A little under a third of respondents (29.6%) stated that they suffer from chronic illnesses or conditions."

Most individuals reported that they did not have any limitations in their daily activities because of health problems, with only 13.8% indicating otherwise, the NSO said. "The majority of individuals requiring some form of medical or dental examination or treatment did not report having unmet needs for these services, with only 1.1% of individuals reporting otherwise. This was a decrease when compared to 2022 (2.8%) and 2021 (4.3%)."

In 2023, people who were at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion were less likely to perceive their general health as being good. "In fact, only 67.4% of the persons who were at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion perceived their general health as good, compared to 82.4% of those respondents who were not at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion," the NSO said. The at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate (AROPE) defines the proportion/number of people who are at-risk-of-poverty, or severely materially and socially deprived, or living in households with very low work intensity.

"When considering the main predictors of ill health and chronic illness, females, individuals over 65 years of age, and individuals at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion were more likely to report suffering from chronic illnesses or conditions, and to experience limitations because of health problems." Such trends were also observed in 2022 and 2021, the NSO said.

Well-being indicators

On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 represents not satisfied at all, and 10 represents completely satisfied, an average score of 8.6 was reported by respondents with regard to their satisfaction with their personal relationships with family and friends, the NSO said.

"A mean score of 7.7 was reported with regard to their satisfaction with their current job, and a mean score of 7.4 was reported with regard to their satisfaction with their overall life. The lowest average scores were reported with regard to respondents' satisfaction with their time use and financial situation, at 6.7 and 6.9 respectively. Respondents aged 16 and 17 reported the highest mean score with regard to overall life satisfaction (7.6), while respondents aged 65 years and over reported the lowest mean score in this category at just 7.3."

"The highest mean score with regard to personal relationship satisfaction was reported by respondents aged 65 years and over (8.8). Respondents who were at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion reported lower average scores with regard to their satisfaction with overall life, financial situation, current job, and personal relationships, when compared to those not at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion. On the other hand, a higher average score with regard to their satisfaction with time use was reported by these respondents."

In 2023, people within the highest equivalised income bracket reported higher mean values for satisfaction with overall life, financial situation, current job, and personal relationships. Conversely, a higher mean value for satisfaction with time use was reported by people within the lowest equivalised income bracket, the report read. The National Equivalised Income (NEI) of a household is defined as the household's total disposable income divided by its 'equivalent size' (also referred to as consumption units). The NEI considers the size and age distribution of household members.

"In general, over half of respondents reported feeling happy most of the time (60.2%) while around half of respondents reported feeling calm or peaceful most of the time (48.2%). When it comes to negative feelings, 34% of respondents stated that they rarely felt nervous or agitated while 26.9% reported they felt these emotions sometimes."

Females were more likely to report that they experienced feelings of nervousness and agitation (12.6%), being down in the dumps (3.4%), downheartedness and depression (4.7%) and loneliness (2.6%) most of the time, the NSO said.

"Conversely, males were more likely to report experiencing positive feelings such as calmness and peacefulness (49.3%) and happiness (61%) most of the time. Respondents aged 65 years and over were most likely to feel negative emotions most of the time such as being down in the dumps (5.5%), downhearted and depressed (6.1%) or lonely (5.3%)," the NSO said.

"On the other hand, 61.8% of respondents aged 30 to 64 reported feeling happy most of the time which is the highest out of all age groups. Over half of respondents aged 16 and 17 stated they felt calm and peaceful most of the time (52.8%)."

Respondents at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion were more likely to report experiencing negative feelings most of the time compared to those not at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion, the NSO said. "Negative feelings felt by this group most of the time include nervousness and agitation (14.1%), feeling down in the dumps (4.8%), downheartedness and depression (6%) and loneliness (5%). Respondents who were not-at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion were most likely to report experiencing positive feelings such as calmness and peacefulness (49.2%) and happiness (62.4%) most of the time."

In 2023, most individuals (93.5%) felt that, if needed, they would receive material or non-material help from family, friends, colleagues, or other persons they knew, the NSO said.

"On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 represents do not trust at all, and 10 represents trust completely, on average, the extent to which people trust others was reported at 5.1. On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 represents not at all excluded, and 10 represents completely excluded, individuals seemed to perceive themselves as not being excluded from society. In fact, the mean score with regard to feelings of exclusion from society was reported at 2."