Disquiet over Malta’s outlook has persisted over the past months, with half of the country still saying that the country is headed in the wrong direction according to a newly published Eurobarometer survey.
A previous version of the study published late last year found that public mood had shifted drastically over the previous months, with the number of people saying that the country was on the right track plummeting from 65% to 28% in the space of a year.
The newest edition of the study, which surveyed 506 respondents in Malta throughout February, shows an almost identical situation, with 48% saying that Malta is headed in the wrong direction, compared to the 31% who say things are looking up.
Nonetheless, the Maltese remain more optimistic than most other EU countries, with 60% of Europeans saying that things are looking bleak for their respective countries.
Maltese respondents are also more hopeful about the EU’s direction, with only just over a quarter saying that the bloc is headed in the wrong direction, compared to almost half of all Europeans.
These figures contrast sharply to how people feel about their own individual trajectory, with over four in five respondents in Malta saying that their personal situation is looking up.
Youths are particularly optimistic, with 88% of people under the age of 24 saying that this is the case.
Standard of living, economy expected to get worse
On the other hand, economic prospects appear to be bleak across the bloc, and Malta is no exception.
Almost half of all Maltese respondents (46%) expect the country’s economy to get worse within a year, with less than one in five believing that things will get better. Both rates are similar to those registered in other EU countries.
Meanwhile, twice as many people in Malta expect their standard of living to get worse over the next five years (39%) compared to those who predict that it will get better (20%), with a third of all respondents saying that their quality of life will dip over the next year.
Once again, voters from across Europe appear to be equally pessimistic about their future prospects.
Although these figures make for dismal reading, many of them are an improvement over the findings last autumn, where only 7% were expecting their living conditions to improve within the year and just 11% believed that the country’s economy would take a turn for the better.
Faith in Malta’s democracy remains low
However, the Maltese remain far more unhappy about the state of Malta’s democracy compared to many other Europeans.
A hefty 53% of Maltese respondents describe themselves as unsatisfied with the way democracy works in Malta, compared to 42% of Europeans.
This figure shot up by a staggering 22 percentage points between late 2022 and the summer of 2023 and has remained stable ever since.
Maltese perception in numbers
More than eight in 10 Maltese believe voting is even more important given the current geopolitical situation
68% take an interest in the upcoming elections - 11pp more than at the same point in time prior to the previous vote in May 2019
87% say EU actions have an impact on their daily lives