A happy world waited with baited breath on December 31, 1999, to experience the much-anticipated switch to 2000, an event somewhat overshadowed by warnings of computer catastrophes caused by a ‘millennium bug’ which failed to bite.
Computers didn’t fail. Planes didn’t fall from the skies. The power supply at home wasn’t disturbed. But few analysts on that eve had predicted the bubble would soon burst, that the so-called ‘noughties’ would signal the horrific revival of terrorism, rising fuel prices, climate change realities, and the biggest global financial meltdown since the 1920s.
Looking at the statistics over these two pages shows that Malta mirrored similar developments in the Western world, both from a social and economic perspective, though it bucked the trend on crucial matters such as unemployment.
With the odd exception, all graphs and figures bookending the first decade of the new millennium show a rising trend – whether it’s for better or worse.
The average annual salary in Malta has increased by some 50 per cent in 10 years, but was it enough to make up for the prices of basics like electricity, fuel and bread, which have doubled... or even quadrupled?
The increasing trend in secularism and the way the Maltese have embraced technology is not surprising.
What is perhaps more surprising is the increase in vehicles and vacant buildings in an small island where undeveloped land is vanishing fast.
The Sunday Times looks back at a decade in numbers.
Population
2000: 392,000
2010: 413,000
Population density/km2
1995: 1,200
2008: 1,309
Most popular name for babies
2000: Daniel; Nicole
2010: Luke; Maria
Government deficit
2000: 6.2% of GDP
2010: 3.8% of GDP
Unemployment rate
2000: 6.9%
2010: 6.3%
Minimum wage
2000: €112.70
2010: €152.29
Average local price for bread
2000: 28c
2010: 53c
Average local price for milk
2000: 61c
2010: 72c
Tourist arrivals
2000: 1.21 million
2010: 1.33 million
Average gross annual salary
2000: €10,657
2010: €14,466
Motor vehicles
2000: 242,202
2010: 303,761
Unleaded fuel price
2000: 87c
2010: €1.27
Diesel price
2000: 46c
2010: €1.15
Police officers
2000: 1,718
2010: 1,807
Reported crime
2000: 16,861
2009: 11,953
Cruise liner tourist arrivals
2000: 171,371
2010: 490,000
Electricity price (residential)
2000: 4c to 10c /kWh depending on consumption
2010: 16c to 62c /kWh
Residents’ bank deposits
2003: €6.5 billion
2010: €10.5 billion
Recycling
2000: 262 tonnes
2010: 14,934 tonnes
Mobile phone subscriptions
2000: 110,000
2010: 490,000
Fixed telephone subscriptions
2000: 204,000
2010: 245,600
Internet subscriptions
2000: 78,260
2010: 120,533
Percentage of vacant dwellings
1995: 23%
2005: 27.6%
Waste disposal in landfills (tonnes)
2000: 1.48 million
2010: 224,099
Average age at first marriage
2000: 27.3 (men), 24.9 (women)
2009: 30.4 (men), 28.1 (women)
Civil marriages
2000: 509
2009: 823
Legally separated
1995: 4,120
2009: 11,045
Sunday mass attendees
1995: 61.7%
2005: 51%
University graduates
2000: 961 (males), 1,042 (females)
2009: 1,120 (males), 1,639 (females)
Malta football team world ranking
2000: 116
2010: 164
All prices denoted in euros.The figures are derived from the latest statistics available in the following sources: National Statistics Office, Labour Force Survey, National Census, Eurostat, Discern, State of the Environment Report, Finance Ministry, Enemalta, Home Affairs Ministry, Wasteserv, FIFA.