Is Malta's migration boom coming to an end?

Malta’s population is still rising, albeit at a much slower pace than in previous years, new population statistics published on Thursday reveal, indicating that the tide of Malta’s decade-long population boom could slowly be turning.

The data shows that Malta’s population has now reached an unprecedented 574,000 with almost one in every three people in the country being non-Maltese.

However, a closer look at the figures reveals that Malta’s population growth was lower than almost any other year over the past decade.

Net migration halved compared to previous year

The figures show that net migration, the difference between those who moved to Malta and those who left, was at 10,614 people in 2024.

A year earlier, this figure stood at almost 21,000, revealing that net migration had halved in the span of a year.

Since 2017, the year in which the population boom took off, Malta’s population typically grew by an average of just under 20,000 people per year (excluding the Covid years of 2020 and 2021, when the world shut its borders for long stretches of time). Last year, Malta’s population grew by 10,807 in total.

Migrant arrivals still high but dipping

Official statistics show that the last time net migration was as low as last year (aside from 2020 and 2021) was in 2016, when it hit 8,600 people.

Aside from the Covid years, this is also the first time in a decade that fewer migrants have come to Malta compared to the previous year.

Back in 2016, some 18,166 people moved to Malta, almost 100 fewer than in the previous year.

Since then, migrant arrivals steadily increased each year, reaching a peak of 42,000 in 2023.

But, for the first time since 2016, Thursday’s population statistics revealed a drop in migrant arrivals, with just over 34,000 arrivals throughout 2024.

More EU arrivals, fewer third country nationals

The drop in migrant arrivals is attributed entirely to a dip in non-EU migrants.

The number of people moving to Malta from other EU countries increased slightly in 2024 compared to the previous year (from 6,800 to 7,300), as has the number of Maltese citizens returning to Malta.

Third-country national arrivals, on the other hand, dropped drastically, from 33,000 in 2023 to 24,200 last year.

Meanwhile, some 16,000 third country nationals left Malta in 2024, 2,500 more than the previous year.

Labour migration policy comes into force next month

The drop in migrant arrivals comes ahead of the introduction of a labour migration policy aimed at regulating foreign workers and curb abuse.

The policy, announced earlier this year, is set to come into effect next month.

However, last year saw the introduction of new regulations forcing temping agencies to obtain a licence to operate. The rules aimed to curb widespread abuse of migrant workers, with NGOs flagging several instances of workers trapped in abusive work situations.

Late last year, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that most temping agencies across the country stopped operating altogether after the rules came into force.