The cost of living remains the biggest problem for most Maltese.

Nearly one in five listed it as the country’s biggest issue and nearly a third described it as their biggest individual concern, according to the latest Times of Malta survey.

This reflects similar findings from the previous Times of Malta survey held earlier in the year, which also found that inflation is the issue most troubling the Maltese. A recent MISCO survey came to a similar conclusion.

Corruption was listed as the second largest problem in the country, with 15% of all respondents saying this is the case.

However, the personal impacts of corruption appear to be low, with only 6% saying it is their biggest problem on an individual level, lagging behind other issues such as traffic and excessive construction.

Curiously, corruption is also pipped to the post by a happy-go-lucky 6.4% of respondents who say they have no problems at all.

Based on a representative sample of 525 respondents. Data collected between July 14 and 19, 2023. Source: Esprimi/Times of Malta • Created with Datawrapper

Unsurprisingly, there is a sharp partisan divide in people’s perception of corruption.

While it comfortably tops the list of the country’s concerns for PN voters at almost 29%, only just under 7% of Labour voters think this is the case, listing other issues such as the cost of living, traffic, over-development and asylum seekers above it.

PN voters also appear to be more personally impacted by corruption, with 13% saying that it is their biggest personal concern. Nonetheless, this is dwarfed by the rising cost of living, which is listed by almost half PN voters as the biggest individual problem.

Labour voters, on the other hand, say that corruption is far from their biggest personal concern, with several other issues having a more direct impact on their life.

People who did not vote in the last year’s election are aligned with voters of both parties in some respects. Like PN voters, they believe that corruption is one of the country’s biggest problems, listing it just beneath the cost of living.

However, they also agree with Labour voters that other issues such as traffic, over-construction and rent prices are a bigger problem on an individual level.

The survey, carried out by market research firm Esprimi, collected responses between July 14 and 19, based on a sample of 525 respondents.