General State of the Economy

Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is land country located in the central Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. According to 2023 statistics, Malta, which in terms of size is 215^th in the world, is home to around 540 thousand people.

Malta / Republic of Malta
Capital: Valletta	Density: 1700/km²	Currency: Euro (€) (EUR)
Official languages: Maltese, English	Life expectancy at birth: 82.70 years	GDP (PPP): $34.965 billion (2023)
National Day: 21 September	Area: 315 km²	GDP - per capita (PPP): $63,256 (2023)
Population: 535,065 (2023)	Coastline: 197 km	Internet country code: .mt

Source: [1,2,3,4,5]

In terms of population density the country is 8^thin the world out of 248 countries considered. Malta is a single-chamber parliamentary republic. The president's role is largely ceremonial. The prime minister is the head of government. [1,2,3].

Valletta, Malta, Skyline, the dome of the Carmelite Church and the tower of St Paul`s. Envato Elements. N59KRSGPE4

The ranking positions of Malta relative to other countries have been determined for an extensive list of economic, energy, innovative and educational indices, as well as for metrics reflecting the state of the environment. The economic indices include, for example, GDP per capita, annual average GDP growth, high-technology exports, and others. The list of energy indices includes proven reserves of oil, gas and coal, production-consumption ratio combined, and energy use, etc. Each of the indices has a ranked list of included member countries. Since the number of countries in each rating is different for each index, the positioning of the country of interest is displayed on a special chart, where the vertical axis is a uniform relative scale from 0 to 1, whereas the horizontal axis denominates the various indices and respective numbers relating to the descriptions given underneath.
Thus, in such a relative “0-1” diagram, the country’s position is marked with a dot in proportion to its location in the original rating list. If the country is among the leaders regarding the selected indicator, it will be marked close to 1 in the upper green zone on the relevant chart “0-1”, if the country is an outsider in the rating list, then it will be marked in the lower red zone of the chart “0-1”, etc. A single list of indices is used for all countries. If a country is not in the ranking list for any index, then the corresponding position on the charts is not displayed.

Sources:
1. GDP (purchasing power parity), 2020 est. / The World Factbook/Library/Central Intelligence Agency *228
2. GDP - per capita (PPP), 2020 / The World Factbook/Library/Central Intelligence Agency *229
3. Inflation rate (consumer prices), 2019 est. / The World Factbook/Library/Central Intelligence Agency *228
4. Charges for the use of intellectual property, receipts (BoP, current US$), 2020 / International Monetary Fund, Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook, and data files. / License: CC BY-4.0 *88
5. The Global Competitiveness Index 2019 / Rankings / Reports / World Economic Forum *141
6. High-technology exports (current US$) 2019-2020 / United Nations, Comtrade database through the WITS platform / License: CCBY-4.0 / Data *134
7. 2021 Index of Economic Freedom / International Economies / The Heritage Foundation *178
8. Reserves of foreign exchange and gold, 2017 est. / The World Factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency *195
9. Annual average GDP growth in %, for the last 10 years (2011-2020) / World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files / License: CC BY-4.0*206
10. Public debt (% of GDP), 2017 est. / The World Factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency(from smallest to largest) *210
* Total number of countries participating in ranking

Figure 1. Economic Indices of Malta

For the majority of the economic indicators shown in the chart, Malta is above the middle of the ranking lists. The country has the best indices among those presented for the GDP per capita (0.81), Index of Economic Freedom (0.80) and the annual average GDP growth in % (0.83). The weakest spots in the country’s economic indicators are reserves of foreign exchange and gold (0.29) and GDP (0.34).

Energy Resources

Malta has no reserves of fossil energy resources [6], or significant renewable energy resources. A selection of basic indicators of this type of resource is presented in Table 1.
The level of global horizontal radiation in most of the country does not exceed 5.0 kWh/m²/day [7]. The distribution of wind resources is as follows: in most of the country's territory the wind speed does not exceed 5.0 m/s [8], while in the north-west of the country it can reach 6.5 m/s at a height of 50 metres.

Table 1. Renewable energy resources of Malta

Resource/ Explanations	Solar Potential (GHI)*	Wind Potential (50 м)*	Bio Potential (agricultural area)	Bio Potential (forest area)	Municipal Solid Waste
Value	5.0	4.5 - 5.5	27.3	1.4	606
Unit	kWh/m²/day	m/s	% of land area	% of land area	kg per capita
Year	2022	2022	2022	2022	2023
Source	[7]	[8]	[9]	[10]	[11]

*for the majority of the territory of the country

In 2022, about 27.3% of the country was covered by agricultural land [9]. This area is decreasing, however the country is experiencing a slight increase in forested area, which covered 1.4% of the country in 2022 [10].
In 2023 the level of municipal waste generation in Malta was 606 kg per person [11]. This resource is a valuable raw material for recycling or producing energy, the technologies of which have reached a very high level of development in the country.

MALTA, LUQA
Latitude: 35.86, Longitude: 14.48

Average daily sky coverage over 10 years of observations, %

CLR - clear, SCT - scattered from 1/8 TO 4/8, BKN - broken from 5/8 TO 7/8, OVC - overcast, OBS - obscured, POB - partial obscuration

Source: based on NOAA U.S. Department of Commerce
Detailed information: Interactive map of solar resources

MALTA, LUQA
Latitude: 35.86, Longitude: 14.48
Average speed: 3.97 m/s, Operational share: 61%

Average daily wind speed for 10 years of observations, m/s, 10 m above the ground

Source: based on NOAA U.S. Department of Commerce
Detailed information: Interactive map of wind resources

Energy Balance

According to [6], in 2023 in Malta, the total production of primary energy was 0.001 quadrillion Btu, while consumption was at the level of 0.129 quadrillion Btu. Thus, the share of domestic production in primary energy consumption was about 0.8%. This makes Malta a country dependent on energy imports.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Sep 2024) / www.eia.gov

Figure 2. The production and consumption of fossil fuels in Malta (coal – left, gas – in the center, oil – right)

Natural gas consumption in Malta increased gradually from 2017 to 2023, reaching 15.70 bcf in 2023. The country's crude oil consumption increased gradually from 2001 to 2023, with slight annual fluctuations, reaching 49.53 thousand barrels per day in 2023. Coal consumption in the country has been insignificant over the past 20 years, with sharp fluctuations, and has been stable at zero for the past two years (Figure 2).
Malta's electricity production has increased slightly over the past 10 years, recovering from a sharp decline in 2015-2017 (Figure 3). According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in 2023 Malta produced 2.35 TWh of electricity, where fossil fuels accounted for 86.4% and renewables for 11.6% (Figure 6).

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Sep 2024) / www.eia.gov

Figure 3. Electricity production in Malta

Malta’s position in the comparative diagram of energy index is shown in Figure 4. Due to the lack of fossil fuel reserves, the country is not represented in the four indices of the chart.

Sources:
1. Crude oil proved reserves, 2021 / International Energy Statistic/Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021)*98
2. Natural gas proved reserves 2021 / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021) *99
3. Total recoverable coal reserves 2019 / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021) *81
4. Combination production-consumption for Crude oil 2018 / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021) *219
5. Combination production-consumption for Natural gas 2019 / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021) *123
6. Combination production-consumption for Coal 2019 / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Nov 2021) *128
7. Electricity – from other renewable sources (% of total installed capacity), 2017 est. / The World Factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency *170
8. GDP per unit of energy use (PPP per unit of oil equivalent), 2020 *66
Primary energy consumption - BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2021/BP;GDP (purchasing power parity) - The World Factbook/Library/Central Intelligence Agency
9. Energy use (primary energy use of oil equivalent per capita) 2020 *127
Primary energy consumption – BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2021; Population - United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects 2019, custom data acquired via website. Retrieved 15 November 2021*66
10. The Global Energy Architecture Performance Index Report (EAPI) 2017 / Rankings / Reports / World Economic Forum
11. Electric power consumption (kWh per capita), 2016 *217
Electricity Consumption - The World Factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency; Population - United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
Population Division (2019). World Population Prospects 2019, custom data acquired via website. Retrieved 15 November 2021
12. Combination of electricity production-consumption (kWh)/The World Factbook/Library/Central Intelligence Agency *216
* Total number of countries participating in ranking

Figure 4. Energy indices of Malta

The country is well-positioned in electricity from other renewable sources (0.75), GDP per unit of energy use (0.95), energy use (primary energy use of oil equivalent per capita) (0.52), electric power consumption (kWh per capita) (0.73). In terms of the combination of electricity production-consumption, the country is at a minimum level.

Energy Infrastructure

A territorial map showing the distribution of the largest infrastructure projects in Malta is shown in Figure 5. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, primary energy production in Malta accounts for 0.8% of total energy consumption in 2023 [6].

Figure 5. Basic infrastructural facilities of the energy industry in Malta (click on the map to view a PDF version)

As noted earlier, Malta has no fossil fuel reserves, petroleum products are supplied to the island at the premier bunker and blending terminal Evos Malta, with an installed capacity of 586,000 cbm [12]. Liquefied natural gas is delivered by ships and pumped onto floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG). The FLNG consists of Armada LNG's Mediterrana, a conversion of the former LNG carrier Wakabu Maru, converted by Armada in Singapore [13]. After regasification, the gas is supplied via pipeline to the Delimara power station with an installed capacity of 538 MW, which has been converted from oil to natural gas [14].
Enemalta maintains and operates the national grid, which distributes electricity from the Delimara power station, the Malta-Italy interconnector terminal station at Maghtaba and from several grid-connected renewable energy sources located throughout the country.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in 2023, Malta produced 2.35 TWh of electricity, where fossil fuels for 86.4% and renewables accounted for 13.6% (Fig. 5). As noted in the previous section, the level of global horizontal radiation in some parts of the country can reach 5 kWh/m², which is a sufficient resource for energy production [6]. As a result, a number of solar energy facilities have been located in this area, including 3 operating photovoltaic stations with a capacity of at least 1 MW. The largest of these is Mgabba and Quarry HM29, with an installed capacity of 5.2 MW each [15,16]. Solar energy is also used in heating systems for residential and commercial buildings.
Waste to energy project is earmarked for a site within Wasteserv’s waste processing facility in Magħtab. In addition to waste incineration, the facility is expected to cover around 4.5% of Malta's total energy needs [17].
According to the Malta’s national energy and climate plan for the period 2021-2030 the country’s share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption is set to reach 11,5% by 2030. In addition to increasing the focus on established technologies and sources such as solar photovoltaic systems, renewable water heating technologies, biofuels, heat pumps and bio-waste for energy, Malta is also committed to supporting investment in offshore wind and solar power plants [18].

Education and Innovation

The following chart shows Malta's positions in terms of education and innovation:

Sources:
1. The Global Innovation Index 2021, Rankings / Knowledge / World Intellectual Property Organization / Cornell University, INSEAD, and WIPO (2021):
Energizing the World with Innovation. Ithaca, Fontainebleau, and Geneva *132
2. Patent Grants 2011-2020, resident & abroad / Statistical country profiles / World Intellectual Property Organization *185
3.Patents in Force 2020 / Statistical country profiles / World Intellectual Property Organization *109
4. QS World University Rankings 2022 *97
5. SCImago Country Rankings (1996-2020) / Country rankings / SCImago, (n.d.). SIR-SCImago Journal & Country Rank [Portal]. Retrieved 17 Nov 2021 *240
6. Internet users in 2018 / The World Factbook / Central Intelligence Agency *229
7. Internet users in 2018 (% Population) / The World Factbook / Central Intelligence Agency *229
8. Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP), 2019 / United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.
License: CCBY-4.0 / Data as of September 2021*177
9. Research and development expenditure (% of GDP), 2018 / UNESCO Institute for Statistics. License: CCBY-4.0 / Data *119
10. Scientific and technical journal articles, 2018 / National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators. License: CCBY-4.0 / Data *197
* Total number of countries participating in ranking

Figure 6. The indices of education and innovation in Malta

The majority indices describing the country‘s positioning in the various international rankings related to education and innovation are above average. The lowest spot in the country is the Patents in Force (0.20), QS World University Rankings (0.04) and Internet users (0.30). Malta has the highest position of those presented for the Internet users (% Population) (0.76), Government expenditure on education (0.86) and Research and development expenditure (0.58).

Ecology and Environment Protection

Indicators related to environmental issues are presented in the following diagram:

Sources:
1. CO2 total emission by countries 2020 / European Commission / Joint Research Centre (JRC) / Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR)*208
2. CO2 per capita emission 2020/European Commission/Joint Research Centre (JRC) / Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) *208
3. Forest area 2020 (% of land area) / The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 / Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations *234
4. Forest area change 2010-2020 (1000 ha/year) / The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 / Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations *234
5. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2020 / Rankings / Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy / Yale University *180
6. Annual freshwater withdrawals (m3 per capita), 2017 *179
Annual freshwater withdrawals, total (billion m3), 2017 – Food and Agriculture Organization, AQUASTAT data. /License: CC BY-4.0;
Population – United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019).
World Population Prospects 2019, custom data acquired via website. Retrieved 15 November 2021
7. The National Footprint Accounts 2017 (Biocapacity Credit / Deficit) / Global Footprint Network *188
8. Methane emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent), 2018 / Data for up to 1990 are sourced from Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Environmental Sciences Division,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, United States. Data from 1990 are CAIT data: Climate Watch. 2020. GHG Emissions. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.
Available at: License : Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) *191
9. The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2022 / Overall Results / Jan Burck, Thea Uhlich, Christoph Bals, Niklas Höhne, Leonardo Nascimento /
Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute & Climate Action Network *60
* Total number of countries participating in ranking

Figure 7. Environmental Indices of Malta

Most indices describing the country's ecology and environmental protection are above average. However, it is worth noting the low values of the forest area index (0.10), forest area change (0.44) and national ecological footprint accounts (0.09).

Grand Harbour, Malta. Envato Elements. BYLXR9JQ8V

References

[1] List of sovereign states and dependencies by area / Wikipedia / en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_area
[2] List of countries and dependencies by population density / Wikipedia / en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density
[3] Malta / The world factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency / www.cia.gov
[4] GDP, PPP (current international $) / World Bank, International Comparison Program database. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / www.worldbank.org
[5] GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) / World Bank, International Comparison Program database. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / www.worldbank.org
[6] Malta / International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration / www.eia.gov/beta/international/
[7] Solar resource data obtained from the Global Solar Atlas, owned by the World Bank Group and provided by Solargis / Global Solar Atlas / globalsolaratlas.info
[8] Wind Map / Global Wind Atlas 2.0, a free, web-based application developed, owned and operated by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in partnership with the World Bank Group, utilizing data provided by Vortex, with funding provided by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). For additional information: globalwindatlas.info
[9] Agricultural land (% of land area) / Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / www.worldbank.org
[10] Forest area (% of land area) / Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / www.worldbank.org
[11] Municipal waste statistics Updated / Full list / Statistics Explained / Eurostat / https://ec.europa.eu/
[12] Evos Malta / Evos group / https://www.evos.eu/malta/
[13] LNG terminal, Floating Storage Unit / ElectroGas Malta / https://www.electrogas.com.mt/about-lng-supply/
[14] Delimara_power_station / Wikipedia / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delimara_Power_Station
[15] Mgabba PV / Bajada New Energy / https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraftwerk_Twinerg
[16] QUARRY HM29 / Environment and Resources Authority Malta / https://era.org.mt/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/PA-10589-17-PDS.pdf
[17] Waste to Energy Facility in Malta / Environment and Resources Authority Malta / https://era.org.mt/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/W2E_report_Online.pdf
[18] Malta's 2030 National Energy and Climate Plan / The Energy & Water Agency / https://www.h2stations.org/stations-map/?lat=49.139384&lng=11.190114&zoom=2

The sources of charts and curves are specified under the images.

For more information about the energy industry in Malta see here

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