Robert Abela said it was not true that young people were leaving Malta - in fact - more and more of those who left in the past are returning every year.

"The narrative that young people are leaving Malta is false. Figures show that those who left are returning," he said on Wednesday.

"In 2023 alone, 500 more Maltese and Gozitan people returned to Malta than those who emigrated," he added.

National statistics show a similar scenario in 2022 when 1,800 Maltese citizens returned to Malta and a little under 800 left the islands. 

Abela was speaking at a press conference during which, together with Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, he announced a major reform to regulate foreign workers and curb abuse.

He stressed that Malta would continue to need foreign workers due to an ageing workforce that was seeing more people retiring than joining the labour force.

While foreign labour needed to be regulated, it could not be eliminated forever, he said, and it was not because of a brain drain.

"We have full employment among Maltese nationals and the EU admits Malta tops the ranking in this regard," he said.

"But every year 1,000 fewer Maltese workers join the workforce than retire, and almost a third of Maltese workers are over 50.

"Even if the economy stops growing, employers will still find fewer and fewer workers every year, as more people are retiring than entering the workforce."

The controversy surrounding young people's hopelessness in their own country has been a hot topic of debate almost throughout Labour's time in government in the past decade.

Opinion polls often registered high numbers of young people saying they would rather live in another country, or that they would like to leave Malta or good.

Last year the World Happiness Report found Maltese people under 30 are the unhappiest in the EU.

Several other surveys in recent years have pointed to dissatisfaction amongst Maltese youth, with one EY study finding that 60% would rather live elsewhere.