When, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, I launched Malta’s ‘Economic Vision 2021-2031, A future-proof Malta’, I had stressed the need to build back better and greatly push the green and digital transitions. The 2023 Gross Domestic Product figures are quite heartening about our progress made.

2023 is the first full year of our economy without any COVID-related restrictions.

So, it makes sense to compare the activity of the various economic sectors with that of 2019. Let us start with overall GDP. For every €5 of national output in 2019, in 2023, we managed to produce €6.

This growth of 18% over such a turbulent period – featuring a pandemic, a shock in global commodity prices and major wars in our neighbourhood – is nothing less than impressive.

To give some background, during the same period, the German economy grew by a mere 0.7%.

Looking at our own previous experience, after the 2009 shock – which was a much more benign shock than that of recent years, it took our economy until 2014 to have a GDP that was 18% higher than that of 2008. 

So, it is incontestable that we have managed to rebound from the pandemic but have we built better? Has our economy changed in the last four years? Once again, I believe that the available data suggests that we are on the right track.

When adjusting for changes in prices during the period, one notes that all sectors bar construction increased their value added since 2019. Construction, which, if you were to go by what the local media says, is the main source of growth, has declined by 13%. Real estate – the other supposed main economic sector – had the lowest growth rate out of all sectors (8%). Taken together, they constitute 8.1% of all value added while, back in 2019, they were responsible for 10.2% of all activity.

The sector with the second-lowest growth since 2019 was public administration, education and health, and, in fact, its share in total value added fell from 15.4% to 14.4%. Back in 2012, this sector constituted 19.6% of our economy, meaning that, under Labour, the relative importance of government fell by a quarter of what it was before the change in administration.

So, which sectors have taken up the drop in the share of construction, real estate and the public sector? Principally three.

Whenever a gaming company closes, the prophets of doom all start pontificating about the end of the sector- Silvio Schembri

Information and communication (mostly computer programming) has risen from 9.5% in 2019 to 10.6% in 2023 as its value added rose by more than a third. Back in 2012, this sector was half the size of the construction and real estate sector. Last year, it was nearly one-and- a-half times the size of the same sectors.

The leaders of the information and communication sector do not boast about their economic clout but the numbers speak for themselves – they are now key drivers of our future.

The second sector that I want to pinpoint is the arts, entertainment and recreation (mostly remote gaming). This sector, according to some, would have withered away because of greylisting. From time to time, whenever a gaming company closes, the prophets of doom all start pontificating about the end of the sector.

The reality is that, in just four years, the value added of this sector has grown by 37%. In 2019, this sector was 10.2% of our economy. Last year, it was 11.4%. This sector, despite all the negative propaganda against it, remains one of our mainstays.

The third sector which drove our growth since 2019 was the professional and administrative support services sector. Back in 2019, this sector was just a bit larger than the public services sector. In just four terms, this sector has become half a billion euros larger than all public services because of an expansion of 30%. It now accounts for 17.3% of our economy, up from 16.4% in 2019.

At this rate, in another four years, this sector will become the largest sector of our economy, taking over the spot of wholesale and retail trade; transportation; accommodation and food services sectors combined.

At the same time, we have seen agriculture and fishing, industry and financial services grow in relative importance.

This is why the 2023 GDP figures are so heartening. Despite all the shocks we faced in the last years, we stayed true to our vision. We have not just rebounded economically but we have directed this growth to sectors that will make us more resilient.

The sectors we are incentivising are creating high-quality careers for our youths, with higher wages and better working conditions.

Over the coming years we will continue to future-proof our economy for the benefit of all. 

Silvio Schembri is Minister for the Economy and Enterprise.