Maltese adults are far more worried about what Budget 2027 means for the country than for their own household, even as personal satisfaction edges ahead of dissatisfaction, the first Esprimi post-Budget Barometer has found.

Only 15% expect the budget to leave their own household worse off over the coming year. Almost half (48%) expect no change, and 36% expect to be better off.

When asked about Malta as a whole, however, views split sharply: 39% expect the country to be better off, but 35% expect it to be worse off, nearly two and a half times the share who fear for their own household.

Overall, 41% are rather or very satisfied with the budget and 29% are rather or very dissatisfied.

Confidence in the Government's management of the economy is weaker: 32% agree or strongly agree that they have confidence in it, while 45% disagree to some extent.

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana delivered the government's Budget for 2027 on October 26.

"The survey - Esprimi's first - found that few people expect this Budget to leave their own household worse off, and almost half expect no change at home.

The country is a different story: a little more than a third expect Malta to be worse off. That gap between the household and the country is the clearest message in this year's results," said Vanessa Bajada, Director of Research at Esprimi.

The Budget Barometer is a new annual study by Esprimi, which will be published after every Budget from this year on.

Four further releases in the series will cover the measures people welcomed most and least, how voters of different parties read the budget, what people felt was missing, and how third-country nationals see the measures that affect them.

The next release will be on Monday 9 November, and the final release will be published on Sunday 15 November.

"We will publish the Budget Barometer after every Budget, asking the same core questions each year, so that public reaction can be compared over time. Our method and our results are public, with the exact wording of every question we report, and we report what people told us, whatever it shows," CEO of Esprimi Morgan Parnis said.

Full results, charts and analysis are available on the Esprimi website.

The survey was conducted online among 400 Maltese citizens aged 18 and over living in Malta and Gozo between 29 October and 2 November 2026, in the week following the Budget speech on 26 October.

Respondents were invited to participate through the Esprimi panel and social media, with a median questionnaire completion time of nine minutes.

The results were weighted according to how respondents voted in the 30 May 2026 general election, using official Electoral Commission results for the entire electorate, including those who did not vote or spoiled their ballot.

Three in ten respondents preferred not to disclose how they voted, and their answers were included without adjustment.

Esprimi said weighting changed the overall results by between one and five percentage points but did not change any finding.

The effective sample size after weighting was 359. For a random sample of that size, the margin of error would be approximately ±5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, although Esprimi said this was indicative, as with all online panels.

Nearly all respondents said they were familiar with at least some Budget measures, meaning the findings described Maltese adults who followed public affairs rather than every adult.

Respondents were also asked to select up to five Budget measures they welcomed most and up to five they welcomed least. The measures were described in the report as presented in the Budget speech, with any differences in the wording shown to respondents identified on the dashboard.

Alongside the main survey, Esprimi conducted a companion survey among non-EU residents to understand how those most directly affected by certain Budget measures perceived them.

A total of 122 people participated, mainly through social media and community channels. Their results will be reported separately and without weighting, reflecting the views of those who took part.

Esprimi said unweighted headline figures were also published alongside the weighted results on its dashboard, in line with its practice of presenting respondents' answers alongside its estimates.

The organisation said the Budget Barometer would be published annually, retaining the same core questions to allow comparisons over time, while additional questions would reflect the principal measures announced in each Budget.