Malta Population

Quick facts about the population of Malta

Current population (as of Sunday, April 11, 2021)

442,755

Population rank

176 (0.01% of world population)

Total area

320 km2 (124 mi2)

Population density

1,383.6 per km2 (3,583.5 people/mi2)

Sex ratio

0.98 (219,692 men to 223,063 women)

Median age

40.9 years

Life expectancy

79.7 years (77.5 - men, 82.1 - women)

Literacy

94.1 %

(Population figures are estimates by Countrymeters based on the latest United Nations data)

Malta population 2021

During 2021 Malta population is projected to increase by 1,411 people and reach 443,779 in the beginning of 2022. The natural increase is expected to be positive, as the number of births will exceed the number of deaths by 80. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the population will be increased by 1,332 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people who move into Malta (to which they are not native) in order to settle there as permanent residents (immigrants) will prevail over the number of people who leave the country to settle permanently in another country (emigrants).

Population change rates in 2021

According to our estimations, daily change rates of Malta population in 2021 will be the following:

• 11 live births average per day (0.45 in an hour)
• 11 deaths average per day (0.44 in an hour)
• 4 immigrants average per day (0.15 in an hour)

The population of Malta will be increasing by 4 persons daily in 2021.

Demographics of Malta 2020

As of 1 January 2021, the population of Malta was estimated to be 442,368 people. This is an increase of 0.32 % (1,407 people) compared to population of 440,961 the year before. In 2020 the natural increase was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 79. Due to external migration, the population increased by 1,327. The sex ratio of the total population was 0.985 (985 males per 1,000 females) which is lower than global sex ratio. The global sex ratio in the world was approximately 1,016 males to 1,000 females as of 2020.

Below are the key figures for Malta population in 2020:

• 3,938 live births
• 3,858 deaths
• Natural increase: 79 people
• Net migration: 1,327 people
• 218,950 males as of 31 December 2020
• 223,418 females as of 31 December 2020

Malta population density

Malta population density is 1,382.4 people per square kilometer (3,580.4/mi²) as of April 2021. Density of population is calculated as permanently settled population of Malta divided by total area of the country. Total area is the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines of Malta. The total area of Malta is 320 km² (124 mi²) according to the United Nations Statistics Division .

Religion in Malta

Religion	Number of followers	Percentage of total population
Christianity	429,915	97.1 %
Religiously Unaffiliated	11,069	2.5 %
Hinduism	886	0.2 %
Islam	886	0.2 %

Source: Pew Research Center. The Global Religious Landscape .

Number of followers estimated by Countrymeters (Sunday, April 11 2021).

Malta age structure

As of the beginning of 2021 according to our estimates Malta had the following population age distribution:

15.7

68.5

15.8

	- percentage of population under 15
	- percentage of population between 15 and 64 years old
	- percentage of population 65+

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 69,363 young people under 15 years old ( 35,566 males / 33,797 females)
• 303,133 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 153,842 males / 149,290 females)
• 69,872 persons above 64 years old ( 30,665 males / 39,207 females)

We prepared a simplified model of the population distribution pyramid which is broken down into 3 main age groups. The groups are the same as we used above: population under 15, between 15 and 64 and population which is over 65 year old.

65+

15-64

0-14

male

female

Note: The pyramid provided is not corresponding to data given above because the age groups have different number of years.

As we can see the Malta population pyramid has a contracting type. This type of pyramid is more common for highly developed countries with low birth and death rates. Usually countries with such kind of population age distribution model have long life expectancy, high level of education and good health care.

Source: The estimation data for section "Malta age structure" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Age dependency ratio

Dependency ratio of population is a ratio of people who are generally not in the labor force (the dependents) to workforce of a country (the productive part of population). The dependent part includes the population under 15 years old and people aged 65 and over. The productive part of population accordingly consists of population between 15 and 64 years.

This ratio shows the pressure on productive population produced by the dependent part of population.

The total dependency ratio of population in Malta is 45.9 %.

The value of 45.9 % is relatively low. It shows that the dependent part of population is less than a half of the working part. In other words the working population (labor force) in Malta must provide goods for itself and cover expenditure on children and aged persons. And this part of population is less than 50% of working population. The value of less than 50% means that the pressure on productive population in Malta is relatively low.

Child dependency ratio

Child dependency ratio is a ratio of people below working age (under 15) to workforce of a country.

Child dependency ratio in Malta is 22.9 %.

Aged dependency ratio

Aged dependency ratio is a ratio of people above working age (65+) to workforce of a country.

Aged dependency ratio in Malta is 23 %.

Source: The estimation data for section "Malta age dependency ratio" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important demographic indicator. It shows the number of years a newborn infant would live assuming that birth and death rates will remain at the same level during the whole lifetime.

Total life expectancy (both sexes) at birth for Malta is 79.7 years.
This is above the average life expectancy at birth of the global population which is about 71 years (according to Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations).

Male life expectancy at birth is 77.5 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 82.1 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 351,171 persons or 94.15% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in Malta are able to read and write. Accordingly about 21,833 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 92.51% (170,691 persons). 13,816 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 95.75% (180,480 persons). 8,017 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 98.84% and 99.5% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 99.16%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

Source: The estimation data for section "Malta population literacy" is based on the latest data published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (retrieved March 13, 2016) .