A total of 33,455 new residence permits for third-country nationals were issued last year, revealing a drop compared to the year before, data filed in parliament revealed.
Roughly 12 per cent of those permits – 4,073 – went to applicants of Malta’s golden visa and digital nomad programmes.
Figures also revealed how 25,433 resident permits for TCNs expired or were revoked last year, while a further 52,661 were renewed.
According to Eurostat figures published last September, Malta issued 42,000 first residence permits in 2023, more on a per capita basis than any other EU member state.
The figures for 2024 were filed by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri in a reply to several questions by Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami on Monday.
Fenech Adami asked Camilleri questions regarding how many TCN and EU new residence permits were issued and how many were revoked.
In his reply, Camilleri said there was a net increase of 668 residence permits for TCNs when compared to 2023. While there was a marginal increase in the net number of TCN permits, the number of residence cards for EU and EEA/Swiss nationals was down considerably.
Camilleri said 5,811 such permits were issued last year, down by 2,227 when compared to 2023. A further 6,662 permits expired or were revoked, while 4,310 were renewed.
While EU and EEA citizens do not need a residence permit to stay in Malta, they are issued a registration certificate in the form of a residence document, Camilleri explained.
The citizen is not obliged to cancel the registration certificate once they no longer live in Malta.
“This means the number of EU citizens currently living in Malta is currently less than indicated in the statistics on the documents,” he said.
Camilleri told parliament that the figures – which he noted were provisional – indicate that Malta’s population “has stabilised” in 2024. He said this reflects the policies the government adopted, such as the reform of temping agencies and reducing the number of food couriers and cab drivers entering the labour market.
The figures come weeks after the government unveiled the Malta Labour Migration Policy and its plan to regulate foreign workers and curb abuse.
The new policy will introduce measures to oblige employers to favour Maltese and EU workers while retaining their non-EU workers who already work in Malta.
In a Times of Malta interview, Camilleri pledged that the policy – which is still at the consultation stage and not yet law – will “stabilise” Malta’s population growth and argued that Malta’s population growth in 2024 was “much, much lower” than in 2023.
Residency Malta generated €132M
Camilleri said Residency Malta generated €132 million for the economy through the different schemes last year.
The agency is responsible for the administration of the ‘Nomad Residence Permit’, the ‘Malta Permanent Residency Programme’ (MPRP) and the ‘Malta Residence and Visa Programme’.
Last year, MPRP welcomed 1,500 applications and generated €46 million in the consolidated fund, €50 million in rental contracts on a five-year basis and €36 million in property purchases.
Another 1,031 applied for the Nomad Residence Permit last year. People who work remotely and are employed by a foreign company, or are self-employed, can apply for the Nomad programme if they earn at least €32,400 per year.
“With an average annual salary of €76,000, these nomads have significant spending potential,” Camilleri said.