The latest figures from the National Statistics Office show how the cost of living in Malta continues to hit families, the elderly and young people hard, as they keep facing ever-rising prices, the Nationalist Party said in a statement.

"In August, the rate of the cost of living in Malta reached 2.7%, higher than the EU average rate (2.4%) and that of the euro area (2%)."

"When compared with other European countries, the difference is worrying: in Germany the rate was 2.1%, in Ireland 1.9%, in France 0.8% and in Italy 1.6%. While in many of these countries the rates are falling from one month to the next, in Malta prices keep shooting upwards. In fact, on average, both in the EU and in euro area countries, the cost of living remained stable on the previous month, but in Malta the rate rose sharply compared with July as well as with the same month a year earlier," the PN said.

"This means that while the Labour Government is giving land belonging to the people to the chosen few for a third of the price, families and workers keep paying higher bills and buying property at unaffordable prices. This is a direct theft from the people's pockets."

Leader of the PN Alex Borg, in a comment on social media, said that as a citizen who lives the same realities as the people, he understands the problems that the Maltese and Gozitans are facing. He said that the PN is working and formulating policies that can give a better life to the Maltese people.

The PN said it has already put forward concrete proposals to reduce the burden of the cost of living, including: The removal of tax on the increase in the cost of living (COLA), so that workers enjoy the full increase; Tax exemption on the first €10,000 from overtime and part-time work; Tax credits for small and medium enterprises so that they are not forced to raise prices to compensate for higher costs; A national fund to support industries that import and export, to reduce transport costs; A new and sustainable economic model, based on value-added sectors that create quality jobs with better wages and higher productivity.

The PN said that, led by Alex Borg, it remains determined to continue putting pressure on the Government not to let families drown under the weight of the cost of living and to ensure that serious and effective measures are taken that truly give people relief.

PN has no credibility on the cost of living – PL 

In a reaction, the PL said that the PN’s statement “confirms that the Opposition has no credibility on the subject.”

The PL said that the Leader of the Nationalist Party Alex Borg had tried to give the impression that inflation in Malta is caused by higher bills. This is when the National Statistics Office states that ‘in August 2025, the largest upward contribution to the overall annual inflation was registered in the restaurants and hotels index (+0.69 percentage points), largely due to higher prices of restaurant services’.

The PL said that the PN is also wrong to claim that the inflation rate in Germany, Ireland and Italy is declining from month to month. Eurostat statistics indicate that there has been no drop in inflation in any of these countries. In Germany last August, inflation was 2.1% representing an increase from 2% a year ago, in Ireland the rate rose from 1.1% to 1.9%, while in Italy the increase was from 1.2% to 1.6%, the PL said.

“The statement by the Nationalist Party and Leader Alex Borg is also wrong to claim that Maltese families and workers are paying higher bills than those in Europe,” the party said.

“Today families and workers in our country benefit from the cheapest fuel price in the eurozone, as well as the cheapest bills. In fact a Eurostat publication released this week indicated that the rate of those in a situation of severe social and material deprivation in our country is only 4%, or less than half the rate that was ten years ago. This is in addition to the rate in our country being lower than in Germany, 6.2%, 4.5% in Ireland and 4.6% in Italy,” the party noted.

It referred to the latest Eurobarometer, saying that this found that 9 out of 10 Maltese interviewed said they would never have problems getting through by the end of the month. Across Europe only 6 out of 10 responded the same. From the eurozone, families in our country are the ones who have most said they have no problems with the monthly bills and expenses.

“In contrast to the latest Eurobarometer held when our country was under Nationalist administration half of the families in our country had claimed that they would be financially stretched by the end of the month. On that day a Nationalist Government was not ready to subsidise fuel and electricity bills and ended up raising them by twice as high as the increases across Europe,” the PL said.