The foreign population stood at 158,368 in 2023, accounting for 28.1% of the total population in Malta. This is according the to latest population and migration statistics from the National Statistics Office.

The NSO noted that while the foreign population grew by 15.3% between 2022 and 2023, the Maltese population only grew by 0.1% from 404,675 to 405,075 in 2023.

It pointed out that “there are stark contrasts in the age and sex structure of the Maltese and foreign population at the end of 2023 as depicted by the population pyramids for each group.”

The NSO highlighted that while the sex distribution in the Maltese population is nearly equal, at 49.8% males and 50.2% females, among the foreign population, males accounted for 61.1% of the population compared to 38.9% females. The foreign population is also younger.

The median age for the foreign population was 32 years, while among the Maltese population it was more than 10 years higher at 43.

The differences between the age structure of the foreign and Maltese population are further highlighted by the old-age dependency ratio, the NSO said. The old age dependency ratio is the number of individuals aged 65 or older per 100 people of working age, defined as those aged between 20 to 64 years old.

The ratio for the Maltese population has increased annually since 2012 from 28.2 to 41.8 in 2023. On the other hand, the ratio for the foreign population has declined annually from 17.0 in 2012 to 4.4 in 2023.

The NSO said the ratio for the total has remained relatively stable since 2012, “likely due to the influence of the declining ratio among the foreign cohort.”

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