Following the publication of Eurostat's Euro indicators on Friday morning, Malta recorded the second-largest economic growth from all EU countries between the first quarters (Q1) of 2025 and 2026, only trailing Denmark.

Between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026, Malta registered a growth in GDP of 4.3%. This mark ranked second in this morning's results, only behind Denmark. Denmark's GDP rose by 5.9% within the same period.

In reaction to this news, Prime Minister Robert Abela stated on X that "the positive certificates keep coming" and that "progressive policies are the best economic recipe." The second remark is an ode to Abela's government's approach to facing economic turbulence in recent years, as a result of several international crises; Abela has repeatedly praised how his government has avoided utilising austerity policies and instead safeguarded local families and businesses through policies that maintained artificially low energy prices, i.e., the energy subsidies.

"Once again we are best in class. Growing at a rate 14 times the euro area average," the Prime Minister said.

These positive economic results come during a period where Malta is, for the most part, isolated atop these rankings among a few positive performers, while the majority of EU national economies are expanding at significantly lesser rates.

While the Maltese economy grew by 4.3% over this 12-month period, the European Union's overall GDP has only increased by 0.7%. In addition, the Euro Area, i.e., all EU countries that use the Euro (€) as their currency, only experienced a GDP growth of 0.3% between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026.

When comparing GDP growth to the previous quarter, i.e., between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, Malta ended up with the tied second highest GDP growth. Both Estonia and Malta recorded a 1.1% improvement in GDP in Q1 2026, compared to the previous quarter. In this category too, Malta only trailed Denmark (+1.9%).

Between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, the EU's overall seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 0.1%. Similarly, a 0.2% drop was noted in the Euro Area's amalgamated GDP, according to Eurostat.

19 EU Member States experienced GDP growth in comparison to the previous quarter and four EU countries' economies (Croatia, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Romania) had stagnant growth (± 0.0%). France's GDP, over the previous quarter, is slightly in the red at -0.1%, while Germany's GDP growth of 0.3% in the same period ranks eleventh best out of the EU27.

The EU's and Euro Area's performance in comparison to the previous quarter is admittedly skewed by Ireland's major economic decline over Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, making it a significant outlier. During this period, Ireland's GDP nosedived by 12.1%; the next worst growth rate in the EU was registered by Lithuania (-0.3%).

Ireland has been recording rollercoaster economic results in recent quarters. Its GDP growth between Q1 2026 and Q1 2025 sits at an alarming -16.8%. This steep plunge is contrasted by its year-on-year performance from just 1-3 quarters prior. When comparing its performance from Q4 2025 to a year prior, i.e., Q4 2024, Ireland recorded a 2.9% rise in its GDP. However, the same year-on-year comparisons done for Q2 2025 (+18.0%) and Q3 2025 (11.1%) tell a very different story, thus marking it as, by far, Europe's most volatile economy in the past couple years.

Positively, Malta also had the second-highest employment growth between the last two successive quarters, at +1.0%. Only Lithuania (+1.8%) recorded larger employment growth in the same span.

In comparison to the same quarter of the previous year, Malta's growth rate of employment in persons led the entire EU at +4.2%.

These economic results also indicated that services production in Malta has gone up by 10.0% - this is the second-highest annual increase, only behind Hungary (+18.0%). The largest decreases in service industry comparisons by EU Member States came from Romania (-3.9%), Denmark (-3.1%), and Austria (-1.6%).