The Brexit referendum was held in 2016, so the "10 years since" framing aligns with this discussion of longer-term effects. Economist Philip von Brockdorff has linked the recent rise in youth unemployment to low qualifications, not to a shortage of posts, pay or conditions. Private-sector service jobs lost Maltese workers through the 2010s. Unions argue that the private sector has become less attractive as locals have moved away, collective bargaining has weakened and employers have increasingly relied on migrant workers rather than raising wages enough to attract Maltese young people back.
For us, Brexit did not meaningfully drive job creation or benefit us. This can be attributed to our high employment rates in the past decade. The island's strong labour market was registering employment rates rising to roughly 78-81%, with unemployment hovering near historic lows of about 2.5 and 3.5%. This may indicate that Gen Z did not substantially seek jobs to take advantage of Brexit in the UK. One may feel snug that steady domestic job creation stems primarily from rapid economic expansion in tourism, online gaming, professional services, and large-scale inflows of foreign workers, rather than from the UK's departure from the EU.
On the contrary, foreign workers, predominantly TCNs since Brexit, now make up a substantial share, accounting for nearly three-quarters of inward arrivals. These were welcome to fill gaps as the native working-age population aged or shifted sectors. Another positive trend is increased female participation, now exceeding the EU average. Gen Z and Millennials have had it good locally, as unemployment stayed low by EU standards, thanks mainly to robust economic growth. These trends predated full Brexit implementation and continued afterwards.
Malta's native under-25 population is small, and the employment rate for young people was already about 50% in 2023, above the EU average. There were never enough local Gen Z workers to replace both departing Britons and the wider shortage. By August, youth unemployment had risen to 9.7%, thus reaching about 2,700 people aged 15 to 24, while thousands of vacancies remained, including 3,236 in retail, transport, accommodation and food services in the second quarter of 2026. That is the mismatch in one picture: more young people unemployed, and the open jobs still not being filled by them. In contrast, Brexit removed an easy British hiring channel. It did not create a range of job opportunities that Maltese Gen Z workers were ready or willing to take. Employers replaced UK workers with other TCN migrants, while local youth stayed in education, the public sector, or in better-paid graduate jobs.
Did Brexit affect British youth in the past decade? Surveys reveal how the British Council's Next Generation UK 2024 study found that about 72% of UK 18 to 30-year-olds (who had not yet lived abroad) would consider leaving. Other polling (for example, the Adam Smith Institute) shows significant groups actively planning, seriously considering, or already having moved, with quality-of-life improvements ranking highly. Common drivers include high rents and housing costs, wages that many feel do not keep pace with costs, fewer graduate vacancies relative to applicants in some periods, tax burdens, and a sense of limited progression. These Gen Z individuals prefer destinations including Australia (lifestyle + skilled migration pathways), UAE/Dubai (tax-free salaries, lifestyle appeal for some), Canada, parts of Asia (Japan, South Korea for work/visa options and lower relative costs in some cases), and other locations offering perceived better balances.
In the past decade, Malta's employment boom was filled mainly from abroad. Between 2013 and 2023, employment rose by roughly 120,000, and foreign workers accounted for most of the private-sector growth. In retail, transport, accommodation and food services, foreign employment rose by about 30,000 over the decade, while Maltese employment in those sectors fell by about 2,750. Recently, construction lost about 2,500 Maltese workers even as the sector grew by more than 10,000.
Readers may ask whether the UK's former importance as a colonial power is reflected in some of these declines. It is true that goods and services links faced new frictions under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Yet, tourism from Britain proved resilient. It remained Malta's largest source market by arrivals and spending (per capita). Data in 2025 shows total inbound tourists reaching 4,022,310 (+12.9% vs 2024), with improved total expenditure of €3.9 billion (+18.6%). What changed locally since Brexit is that third-country nationals now need permits. However, as a sweetener, pre-Brexit residents retained protected status under the Withdrawal Agreement. Malta also received EU Brexit Adjustment Reserve funding to cushion effects.
In fact, when examining studies via early modelling, the effects on Gen Z and Millennials only show modest GDP drags. The Brexit rules provided some bilateral ease (trade, study/work mobility, particularly Erasmus disruption for a limited time). High employment reflects structural shifts such as services-led growth, higher female participation and immigration far more than any Brexit "benefit". As far as the effect on migration is concerned, Brexit was a manageable headwind with a limited downside for Malta's labour market and some sector-specific frictions. It had a net positive driver for high employment rates.
It is gratifying to note how our Gen Z youth emigration is low and has trended downward with recent net returns, in contrast to the UK's elevated absolute and net outflows of young British nationals. Yet, other surveys often show Gen Z and Millennials expressing a high desire to leave Malta. EY data states, inter alia, that around 72% of Gen Z and 77% of Millennials say they would rather live outside Malta.
British young people, many of whom were too young to vote or largely opposed Brexit, frequently point to economic stagnation, fewer opportunities and living standards that seem poorer than those enjoyed by previous generations. Surveys show that strong majorities of 18 to 30-year-olds would consider living/working abroad short- or long-term, with motivations including better quality of life, job prospects, cultural experiences, health sector facilities, and financial relief. Destinations frequently mentioned include Australia (lifestyle + skilled migration pathways), UAE/Dubai (tax-free salaries, lifestyle appeal for some), Canada, parts of Asia (Japan, South Korea, etc., for work/visa options and lower relative costs in some cases), and other locations offering perceived better balances. Brexit is often referenced in these conversations (younger cohorts show higher support for closer EU ties or "rejoin" sentiments in polls), alongside broader post-pandemic cost-of-living and labour-market strains.
Economic analyses in the Int Malta manifesto have examined in detail how, in the next decade, many young people will experience constraints such as the downstream effects of high housing costs, overcrowded public health services, congested traffic, and low air quality. Finally, Gen Z and Millennials may show a tendency to support the UK in its recent drive to rejoin the EU and dilute the negative effects of Brexit.
George M. Mangion is senior partner at PKF Malta