Figures presented in Parliament reveal that social security contributions from non-Maltese have shot up by over 570% over the past decade, increasing from just over €30 million per year in 2012 to over €202 million in 2021.

The figures were tabled by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana in reply to a parliamentary question by PN MP Ryan Callus.

This increase demonstrates Malta’s increasing reliance on the contributions of a growing foreign workforce, an economic model espoused by the government over the past years.

In total, non-Maltese workers have contributed over €1 billion to Malta's economy since 2012.

This increase was not impacted by the pandemic, with contributions increasing by just under €20 million between 2019 and 2020. 

Speaking in 2019, then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat warned that those who do not want foreigners in Malta are turning their back on economic growth and social benefits such as pensions.

Prior to becoming Finance Minister, Caruana had also championed this economic model, arguing that the rapid influx of foreign labour was necessary to sustain Malta’s economic growth.

Caruana later admitted that this brought about a strain on the country’s infrastructure, education and healthcare.

These figures tally with demographic changes that have taken place during the same period.

The latest census figures published by the National Statistics Office show that Malta’s overall population grew by nearly a quarter between 2011 and 2021, an increase of 10,000 people per year.

This increase has been driven by an increasing influx of non-Maltese, with the proportion of non-Maltese residents in 2021 reaching 22.2% of the total population, a five-fold increase over 2011, when the figure stood at 4.9%.

JobsPlus has also said that non-Maltese make up a quarter of the country’s total labour force, amounting to a total of 77,825 by the end of 2021.

Critics have cast doubts over this economic model, citing the high turnover of workers and the often exploitative nature of their work as indications of the model’s unsustainability.

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