Households have gotten smaller, they have an average income of just under €30,000 and manage annual savings of €5,500, according to the Central Bank of Malta.
The findings are found in the Household Finance and Consumption Survey for 2013, which the CBM released this week.
The survey found that 37 per cent of families had some form of debt, with house loans accounting for 83 per cent of all household debt in 2013. Households spent 13 per cent of their income on monthly bank loan repayments.
The survey is held every three years and is part of a euro area research initiative coordinated by the European Central Bank. The first was done in 2010.
According to the findings, the average income for Maltese households increased by 13 per cent to €28,966 in 2013 compared to three years earlier.
The median income, which represents the middle figure in the range (and thus avoids the high and low figures skewing the end result) stood at €23,021 per household.
The median income also registered an increase of 11 per cent in 2013 over 2010.
The income figure represents the earnings of all members of a household, whether through employment, social transfers or non-labour revenue.
Annual average household savings increased to €5,527 in 2013 from €4,444 three years earlier.
Annual average household savings increased to €5,527 in 2013 from €4,444 three years earlier. On the flipside, the median annual savings dropped to €2,501 from €3,000 in three years.
This could indicate that higher savings were concentrated in the more affluent brackets, which dragged up the average amount but had little impact on the median amount.
Financial assets represented 14 per cent of total household assets, with bank deposits accounting for half of them.
Shares and bonds accounted for 17 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, of the financial assets held by households.
The CBM survey found that just over one-quarter of all households were covered by a life insurance or participated in a voluntary pension scheme.
Average financial assets were estimated at €53,140, an increase of 13 per cent over 2010.
There were almost 160,000 households in 2013, with an average of 2.6 members in each. Families were smaller than in 2010, with the CBM registering an increase in the share of one- and two-person households.
Single-person households represented almost one-quarter (24 per cent) in 2013, up from 19 per cent three years earlier. Two-person households increased to 29 per cent from 26 per cent.
There was a sharp drop in households of five or more people. They accounted for eight per cent of all households, down from 11 per cent in 2010. Declining household sizes reflect the trend that sees people live longer and fewer babies born.
Home ownership up to 80 per cent
Home ownership continued to grow in 2013, reaching 80 per cent of the households surveyed by the Central Bank of Malta.
Of these, 64 per cent were outright owners, while 16 per cent were homeowners still paying off a house loan.
While outright homeownership dropped marginally, the percentage of homeowners with a mortgage increased by three points compared to 2010.
The rest, 20 per cent of respondents, lived in rented accommodation or had some form of rent-free agreement. These represented a drop of two percentage points over the results of a similar survey conducted three years earlier.
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com