Watch: Clyde Caruana stands by 800,000 population projections despite PM claim
Caruana first made his population projection in June 2023. Since then, those figures have repeatedly been thrown back at his government
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has stood by his population projection of 800,000 by 2040, despite the prime minister saying Malta would not reach that number.
In an interview with Times of Malta, Robert Abela dismissed projections that Malta’s population could reach 800,000 by 2040 as “unrealistic”, saying population growth had slowed down since a labour migration policy was introduced in 2024.
Those projections were initially made by Caruana two years ago.
Asked on Tuesday evening whether he stood by those figures, Caruana said: “I believe that, on the population, my comments throughout time have been clear. I do not have anything to add to the comments I had made.”
He said he had not changed his projections.
Caruana said Malta’s wealth needed to increasingly come from capital rather than labour, pointing to incentives introduced in this year’s budget. He said more incentives should be introduced.
The finance minister said he still projected that the population would reach 800,000 in the next 14 years, based on the current rate of population growth.
“The National Statistics Office has recently published its population figure for last year, which was around 590,000. If one considers annual increases based on that, we will be very close to that figure,” Caruana said.
“If we want to have a significantly lower population than that, the numbers need to be much lower than 10,000 a year.”
Caruana first made his population projection in June 2023. Since then, those figures have repeatedly been thrown back at him and the government during discussions on population growth.
Last week, Abela said population growth had slowed noticeably in recent years, with data showing that the population increased by 14,000 in 2025.
“If we keep it at that level, or thereabouts, I believe the country can cope. So, let’s not get into narratives of 800,000 by 2040 or whatever. They are not realistic,” he said.
However, a Times of Malta Fact-Check reported that if Malta’s population growth were to continue at the same rate over the coming years, the country’s population would reach just under 800,000 by 2040, in under 15 years’ time.