People’s ability to read or write in Maltese to an advanced level is significantly lower than their ability to speak the language, according to a new study published by the National Statistics Office.

The Skills Survey asked 130,000 people across the country about their skills across several areas in an attempt to identify gaps in Malta’s workforce. This is the first edition of the survey.

At its launch in 2022, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana had described the survey as the first step in changing the country’s economic plan.

English more widely understood than Maltese

The survey sheds light on how the linguistic abilities of the Maltese population are evolving.

English is the most understood language across the country, with 96% of respondents saying they can understand English.

The Maltese language follows closely behind at 90.4%, while Italian trails in third at 62%.

Maltese is still the most widespread language among Maltese citizens, with 99% of the Maltese saying that they have a basic knowledge of the language, compared to the 96% who say the same about the English language.

However, while just over a third of non-Maltese citizens say they have some knowledge of the Maltese language, 97% say they understand English.

A fifth of the population is now made up of foreign nationals.

Italian trails behind as the third-most understood language in the country at 62%. 

Nonetheless, the latter appears to be suffering from a generational divide, with the survey finding that knowledge of Italian (and Arabic) is much higher amongst people over the age of 25, compared to their younger counterparts.

On the other hand, knowledge of French and German was more widespread amongst respondents under the age of 25.

Gender divide

The study appears to suggest a gender divide in people’s skillset, with women more likely to have nurtured skills in areas that are traditionally perceived to be more feminine, such as those related to the caregiving profession, while men are significantly more skilled in areas that require tools and machinery.

While 75% of all women say they have at least one skill related to care or assistance, only 58% of men possess skills in those areas.

Meanwhile, almost half of all men claim that they are skilled in using tools or machinery, over three times higher than the share of women who have similar skills.

The most common skills across the entire population were computing, where over 78% of people said that they have at least one skill in the field, communication and collaboration at 71%, and assistance and care at 66%.

Certain skills appear to be on the wane: agricultural and fishing skills are significantly more common in Gozo than in Malta, where they are few and far between.

Meanwhile, skills within the field of construction are more common among older members of the population.