The coronavirus pandemic hit the brakes on local population growth in 2020, resulting in the smallest increase in a decade of just 0.3 per cent, according to latest official figures.

The numbers from the National Statistics Office showed the island had the biggest drop in annual growth in the EU as well as a significant increase in the local mortality rate of people over 75.

Last year, the local population grew by just 1,536 persons over the year before, to 516,100. This was in contrast to increases of 21,005 in 2019 and 17,858 in 2018.

These figures include both natural increase – the difference between births and deaths – and net migration, which is immigration less emigration.

Previous population growth has been fuelled to a large extent by immigration, as foreign workers came in to take up new jobs created by Malta’s economic boom. But for the first time since 2010, net migration of third-country nationals – people from outside the EU (including those from the UK) – was negative.

Bar graph showing changing population numbers in Malta from 2007-2020. Credit: National Statistics Office

More TCNs left than came in

A total of 384 more third-country nationals left than came in, reflecting the slowdown in the economy.

The slight increase in population in 2020 was mainly due to net migration of EU citizens, which stood at 1,237.

The overall rise in population amounted to just 0.3%, a far cry from 2019 when it had swelled by 4.3% over 2018, the largest rise in the EU at the time.

Nearly a third (65.6%) of all deaths during the virus pandemic were of people aged 75 and over

By contrast, Malta’s four-percentage point drop in growth last year was also the biggest difference in the EU, with Spain coming closest with 0.7 of a percentage point.

Males outnumbered females by 17,778, a discrepancy that has been growing steadily since 2017.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths last year grew by 11 per cent over 2019, due directly or indirectly to the pandemic, according to the NSO.

While there were 1.5 per cent more births compared to the previous year, the natural increase more than halved compared to 2019.

Total resident deaths went up from 3,688 to 4,084 in 2020.

Nearly a third (65.6 per cent) of all deaths during the virus pandemic were of people aged 75 and over. Compared to 2019, the mortality rate in this age group increased by more than 12 percentage points. The demographic shifts in Malta reflected trends across the European Union, where the majority of member states registered significantly smaller population increases compared to the previous year.

Total EU population (excluding the United Kingdom) contracted slightly, by about 312,000 persons.

Despite this, most of the EU member states did not experience a shrinkage in population, with only eight of the 27 countries showing a negative balance compared to 2019.