31.1% of Malta’s population is now made up of foreign nationals, new data published by the National Statistics Office on the occasion of World Population Day on Thursday.
The NSO said that the estimated total population of Malta and Gozo stood at 588,254 at the end of 2025, an increase of 14,004 people when compared to the estimates for 2024 – equivalent to a 2.4% increase.
The increase was practically all as a result of migration, as the country received 32,744 new immigrants throughout the year, and saw 18,388 people emigrate away from the island – meaning that the net migration stood at 13,906 people.
Non-EU citizens made up 78.1 per cent of total net migrants and males accounted for 62.5 per cent. While net migration increased by nearly one third when compared to 2024 (31.0 per cent), both immigration and emigration decreased.
Resident live births meanwhile decreased by 0.8 per cent in 2025 when compared to the previous year. Of the parents who gave birth in 2025, 38.2 per cent were aged 30 to 34 at the time of birth.
Resident deaths in 2025 increased by 1.4 per cent over the previous year. Of the 4,240 resident deaths occurring during 2025, 71.5 per cent were persons aged 75 and over at the time of death.
The decrease in births and increase in deaths led to a drop in natural increase to the population, from 193 in 2024 to 98 in 2025. This is equal to a 49.2 per cent decline when compared to 2024.
As at the end of 2025, males accounted for 53.3 per cent of the total resident population. An analysis of the population by age and sex shows that males predominated across all broad age groups up to 69 years, while females constituted the majority among those aged 70 years and over.
This sex disparity was more pronounced in older age groups, with females outnumbering males nearly two to one among those aged 85 and over. Persons under the age of 18 made up 14.3 per cent of the total population, while persons aged 65 and over accounted for 18.4 per cent. A total of 4,005 persons were aged 90 and over – 2,758 females and 1,247 males.
The NSO said that the total resident population was made up of 68.9 per cent Maltese citizens and 31.1 per cent non-Maltese citizens.
The distribution by age among the Maltese population was relatively balanced across the 10-year age groups between 30 to 79. By contrast, the non-Maltese population was predominantly working age, with 22.1 per cent aged 20-29, 34.8 per cent aged 30-39, and 18.7 per cent aged 40-49.
The Western district had the highest share of Maltese citizens at 85.4 per cent, followed by the Southern Harbour district (79.3 per cent) and the South Eastern district (79.2 per cent).
In contrast, the Northern Harbour and Northern districts recorded the highest share of foreign citizens, at 43.9 per cent and 38.8 per cent, respectively.
Population density was highest in central and harbour localities, particularly Tas-Sliema (18,186 persons per km2), Tal-Pietà (16,346 persons per km2), and L-Isla (15,060 persons per km2).
Other localities in the inner harbour and surrounding areas recorded high population densities, including Il-Gżira (12,746 persons per km2), Il-Fgura (12,488 persons per km2) and Il-Ħamrun (11,754 persons per km2), reflecting the concentration of residents within this region.
By contrast, the lowest population densities were recorded in L-Għasri (104 persons per km2), San Lawrenz (226 persons per km2), and L-Imdina (227 persons per km2).