Updated 1.50pm

The Foreign Ministry is paying €41,393 monthly on rent for the building housing its high commission in Piccadilly in London and almost €30,000 a month in rent in Indian capital New Delhi, information given in parliament shows.

London's rental bill is by far the highest monthly cost for a rented diplomatic building. On an annual basis, rent costs reach just under €500,000. 

The ministry, however, pays that Piccadilly rent to Malpro, a Maltese government agency set up in 1985 to manage the Malta-owned building, a ministry official said.

Malpro, in turn, pays a percentage of rental income to the previous owner, Crown Estates. 

Arguably the more controversial rent concerns the second most expensive overseas embassy - the High Commission in Indian capital New Delhi.

Malta forks out €28,560 per month for that property - just over half the London rental price, despite property prices in New Delhi being almost 10 times cheaper than London's.

Paris comes in third at €17,778, Cairo at €16,766, Dubai at almost €13,000, and Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi and Madrid at just over €10,000 each.

The Casablanca Consultate and Lisbon embassy are at the lower end of the scale at some €2,700 per month, Foreign Minister Ian Borg told Beppe Fenech Adami in reply to a parliamentary question. 

Malta has 39 rented properties abroad for diplomatic purposes.