Maltese population set to drop by 35,000 by 2050

The Maltese population is expected to drop by about 35,000 by 2050, according to the population reference bureau, an American research organisation.

The statistics show that while Malta's population in the middle of this year stood at 399,000, this was expected to go down to 396,000 by 2025 and continue dwindling to reach 364,000 by 2050. This means a decrease of nine per cent between this year and 2050.

However, statistician Catherine Fenech, from the National Statistics Office's demographic unit, told The Times such projections could only be based on assumptions that the current demographic trends continue. Ms Fenech said that although the current trend was for women to postpone having children, this did not mean they would not have children at a later age.

The statistician explained that projections were worked out on current trends but they were just projections and trends could change at any time.

Ms Fenech explained that many women were putting off having children to pursue their career and were starting a family in their late 20s or early 30s. However, it was most probable that women would still have children later on in life.

At present the fertility rate stands at 1.5 births per woman and Ms Fenech said it would not be good if this had to go down further. The number of births is decreasing by between 100 - 200 annually and there are currently 10 births for every 1,000 people.

With regard to the number of deaths, Ms Fenech explained that at the moment the trend was for people to live longer and therefore the death rate had gone down. However, the people who are living longer would still die at some point and therefore the death rate would not continue dropping.

According to the population reference bureau there are eight deaths for every 1,000 people. The total life expectancy at birth is of 78 years, with women having a life expectancy of 80 and men 76.

The bureau says that the population of western Europe is expected to fluctuate between now and 2050, by first increasing and then going down. At present, the population of western Europe is just over 185.3 million and it is projected to exceed 190 million by 2025 and then decrease to almost 183.9 million by 2050.