One out of every six people in Maltese households were at risk of poverty last year, according to data released on Wednesday by the National Statistics Office.

Figures from the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey show that 88,462 people were under the poverty line in 2023 - meaning that 16.6% of the local population was at risk of poverty.

This translates to a drop of 0.1% over 2022.

A fifth (22%) of those at risk of poverty were aged under 18 - up by 2.7 percentage points from the previous year.

A decrease of 0.2 percentage points was meanwhile observed among people aged 18 to 64, bringing the ARP rate for this age cohort down to 12.1% in 2023.

The rate for those aged 65 or more went down to 29%, equivalent to a decrease of 1 percentage point.

Material and social deprivation 

Material and social deprivation indicators are based on 13 items, of which seven relate to the person’s household and six relate to the person. 

These are when a household faces unexpected expenses; affording a one-week annual holiday; avoiding arrears (in mortgage, rent, utility bills and/or hire purchase instalments); affording a meal with meat, chicken or fish or vegetarian equivalent every second day; affording to keep the house appropriately warm; having access to a car/van for personal use and replacing worn-out furniture.

They also include whether a person affords to replace worn-out clothes with new ones; have two pairs of properly fitting shoes; spends a small amount of money each week on him/herself; has regular leisure activities; gets together with friends/family for a drink/meal at least once a month and have an internet connection.

When compared to 2022, the highest increases in 2023 were recorded in the group of respondents who said that their household was unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish, or vegetarian equivalent every second day, and those whose household found it difficult to face unexpected financial expenses. 

Wellbeing

On a scale from zero to 10, where zero represents not satisfied at all, and 10 represents completely satisfied, respondents at risk of poverty or social exclusion reported lower average scores when it comes to their satisfaction with overall life, financial situation, current job, and personal relationships when compared to those not at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion.

Average scores for overall satisfaction about at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion were slightly higher in 2023 when compared to 2022.

Particularly, in 2023 respondents at risk of poverty or social exclusion reported a mean score of seven for satisfaction with their overall life - an increase of 0.2 points from 2022 and a mean score of 6.2 for satisfaction with their financial situation, translating into an increase of 0.4 points.

They also reported a mean score of 7.4 for satisfaction with their current job - an increase of 0.1 points from 2022, and a mean score of 8.5 for satisfaction with personal relationships, representing an increase of 0.3 points.