Key Indicators on the Labour Market: 2023
Introduction
This release presents a number of key indicators emerging from the Labour Force Survey, a quarterly enquiry carried out among private households. The indicators presented refer to the period 2018 to 2023 and a comparison with EU 27 levels is given for 2023 data.
The LFS is considered as one of the most important monitoring tools across the European Union for assessing progress made on employment rates and educational attainment.
Labour Force
Over the last six years, the activity rate for the 15-64 age group rose from 74.1 per cent in 2018 to 80.7 per cent in 2023. Females were the main contributors driving this growth in the labour market. In this regard, the female activity rate increased 9.7 percentage points (Table 1). On the other hand, the contribution of males to the overall increase in activity rate was of 3.1 percentage points between 2018 and 2023.
The highest activity rate was recorded among those aged 25 to 54. On average, out of every 100 males aged between 25 and 54 years, 96 were active. For females in this age group, activity rates registered a substantial increase and in fact between 2018 and 2023, there was an increase of 10.0 percentage points.
Overall, the national activity rate (15-64 years) for 2023 was 5.7 percentage points higher than that recorded for EU 27. National activity rates were higher than EU 27 indicators for all age groups except for the 55-64 year olds. In spite of the considerable growth observed over the past six years, EU 27 activity rates for the 55 to 64 age group were found to be 9.6 percentage points higher than national rates (Chart 1).
Chart 1. Activity rates by age group (Malta and EU 27)
2023
No Data Found
Employment
In 2023, on average, out of every 100 persons aged between 15 and 64 years, almost 78 were employed (Table 2). Between 2018 and 2023, male employment rates increased by an average of 0.7 per cent per year whereas female rates increased by 1.9 per cent per annum.
In both EU and in Malta the employment rate for males tends to be higher than the rate for females. With the exception of those between 55 and 64 years, at a national level, more males and females tend to be in employment when compared to the EU 27 average. The largest gap between national and EU 27 rates was recorded for the 15- to 24-year-olds, with the national employment rate reaching at 50.4 per cent as compared with 35.2 per cent for the EU 27.
Despite the fact that across all age brackets the employment rate has been increasing, the age structure of those in employment has been experiencing changes over the past years. The younger cohort has had an increase of 1.0 percentage points between 2018 and 2023 whereas among those between 20 and 64 there was an increase of 6.4 percentage points over the same period.
The data presented in this release indicates that there has been a reduction in the employment gender gap between 2018 and 2023. This implies that the gap between the employment rate of males and that of females is getting narrower over time. This reduction can be attributed to a number of incentives encouraging females to join or stay in the labour market. In 2023, Malta’s employment gender gap was 4.3 percentage points more when compared to the EU 27 levels.
Chart 2. Employment rates (20-64) by sex
2013-2023
No Data Found
Table 3 reveals that the increase in employment over the past six years was mainly attributed to a growth in the service industry. The share in manufacturing and agriculture activities remained relatively unchanged between 2018 and 2023.
Employment in the services sector has increased during the period under review, starting from 57.0 per cent during 2018 and reaching 63.1 per cent in 2023 (Table 3). The 2023 employment share in services for males stood at 62.2 per cent, 1.5 percentage points higher than the EU 27 average. During the same year, the female employment share in services was 20.4 percentage points lower than the EU 27 average.
In 2023, approximately 15 out of every 100 employed persons were self-employed, 0.7 percentage points higher than EU 27 levels. On average, over the past six years, self-employed males accounted for 19.3 per cent of total employed males. On the other hand, national rates for female self-employment were at par with those recorded within the EU 27 (Table 4).
On average, over the past six years, just over a tenth of employees were working on a part-time basis. During 2023, 17.0 percent of female employees in Malta had this type of working arrangement, whereas at EU 27 level, 29.7 percent of all female employees were engaged on a part-time basis. When comparing to EU 27, the national share of part-time workers was 8.4 percentage points lower than EU levels, with a difference of 12.7 percentage points lower for females and 3.2 percentage points less for males (Table 5).
Unemployment
Unemployment rates have been declining steadily over the past years, with a rate of 3.5 per cent being recorded in 2023 (Table 9, Chart 3). In 2023, the male and female unemployment rates stood at 3.7 and 3.2 per cent respectively.
When comparing to EU 27 levels, national rates for 2023 were lower for both sexes and across all age groups. The largest differences between EU 27 levels and national rates were however prevalent in the younger cohort where, the difference was 3.3 percentage points for males and 7.8 percentage points for females (Table 9).
Chart 3. Unemployment rate (15-74) by sex
2013-2023
No Data Found
This release provides data on the youth unemployment ratio which is defined as the number of unemployed persons aged 15 to 24 as a percentage of the total population within the same age bracket (Table 10). For 2023, the youth unemployment ratio stood at 5.1 per cent, which is 0.9 percentage points less than the EU 27 average. Across all the years reviewed, and both for national and EU 27 levels, the young (15-24) male unemployment ratios tended to be higher than those recorded for females.
The NEET rate indicator, which is the share of young people not in employment, education or training, has gained considerable importance within the local and global scenario since it measures the vulnerability of youths. In 2023, NEET rate stood at 8.2 per cent, 1.0 percentage points less than the EU 27 average (Chart 4, Table 11). This implies that at a national level, persons between 15 and 24 are more likely to be in either employment or education when compared to their EU counterparts.
For 2023, the national long-term unemployment rate, representing the number of persons who have been unemployed for 12 months or more stood at 0.8 per cent, which was 1.3 percentage points less than EU 27 average for the same period (Table 12).
Chart 4. Youth unemployment profile (15-24)
2023
No Data Found
Education
Within the education sphere, a very important indicator is the ELET rate. In 2023, the ELET rate stood at 10.2 per cent, recording a drop of 3.8 percentage points from 2018 levels. This indicator is the rate of early leavers from education and training (ELET). The ELET rate registered a decrease for both males and females, with a reduction of 1.6 and 6.3 percentage points, respectively, over a span of six years (Chart 5, Table 13).
Although Malta’s levels for the early leavers from education and training declined significantly over the years, national values were still higher when compared to European levels. The ELET rate for 2023 was 0.7 percentage points higher than the EU 27 average (Table 13).
At the same time, data for 2023 shows that the number of persons aged 20 to 24 years achieving at least an upper secondary level of education was 86.7 per cent, with the national rate being 2.6 percentage points higher than the EU 27 average (Table 14).
Chart 5. Early leavers from education and training (18-24) by sex
2013-2023
No Data Found
The skills level and continuous training of the adult population of working age in the 25 to 64 age bracket is measured through the life long learning indicator. As Table 15 illustrates, the rate during 2023 stood at 16.4 per cent, an increase of 5.5 percentage points over 2018 levels. The national percentage of persons between 25 and 64 years undertaking lifelong learning was higher than the EU 27 average by 3.6 percentage points.
Another indicator monitoring education is the tertiary educational attainment for the 30 to 34 year age group (Chart 6, Table 16). Within this age group, there has been an increasing trend of persons attaining tertiary education for both males and females. Tertiary educational attainment increased by 7.9 percentage points over the past six years. In 2023, tertiary educational attainment stood at 43.3 per cent, almost at par with the EU 27 average.
Chart 6. Tertiary educational attainment (30-34) by sex
2013-2023
No Data Found
Additional Tables and Charts
Tables
Methodological Notes
General Note
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is carried out on an ongoing basis using a quarterly gross sample of 3,200 private households. The objective is to have a continuous assessment of labour market trends given that the reference weeks are evenly spread throughout the 13 weeks of the quarter. One-fourth of the sample is made up of households who have been selected to participate in the LFS for the first time. Three-fourths of the quarterly sample is made up of households who were selected to participate in the survey in previous instances, either one quarter before, one year before, or one year and a quarter before (2-(2)-2). Unless otherwise indicated, figures provided in this release refer to persons aged 15 and over and living in private households during the reference period. All criteria used for this survey match international methodologies used by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The LFS is designed to satisfy the concepts and definitions as outlined by Eurostat. This allows the comparability of results with other EU member states and countries following ILO definitions of employment and unemployment. Occupations are classified according to the ISCO-08 classification (International Standard Classification of Occupations) whereas the economic activity is classified according to NACE Rev. 2 (Nomenclature générale des Activités économiques dans les Communautés Européennes). Education attainment is classified according to ISCED 2011.
Figures for Malta in this release may vary from those present in Eurostat’s database due to a difference in the calculation of annual estimates. The difference is completely due to rounding of figures and not due to the definitions used to calculate the indicators.
Eurostat figures for EU 27 have been extracted from Eurobase on 30th September 2024.
Concepts and Definitions
1. Labour force
● Activity rate: the number of persons in the labour force falling within a particular age bracket as a percentage of the working population in the same age bracket (15-24, 25-54, 55-64 and 15-64).
● Activity gender gap: the difference in activity rates between males and females for different age groups (15-24, 25-54, 55-64 and 15-64).
2. Education
● Early leavers from education and training rate: the percentage of persons aged 18-24 who achieved secondary education or less (ISCED ≤ 2) and are not pursuing further education or training.
● Lifelong learning rate: the percentage of persons aged 25-64 participating in regular education, or in non-formal training such as courses, seminars and conferences. Students on holiday are considered to be part of the population in lifelong learning.
● Tertiary educational attainment rate: the percentage of persons aged between 30-34 years having achieved at least tertiary level of education (ISCED ≥5).
● Youth educational attainment rate: the percentage of persons aged 20-24 years having achieved at least upper secondary education (ISCED ≥3).
3. Employment
● Employment rate: the number of employed persons falling within a particular age bracket as a percentage of the working population in the same age bracket (15-24, 25-54, 55-64, 15-64 and 20-64).
● Employment gender gap: the difference in employment rates between males and females for different age groups (15-24, 25-54, 55-64, 15-64 and 20-64).
● Employment share in services: the number of employed persons (15-64 years) working in the services sector (NACE Rev 2.0 G to U) as a percentage of the working population in the same age group.
● Average weekly number of hours usually worked per week: the sum of hours usually worked by full-time employees divided by the number of full-time employees. The average excludes persons working variable hours.
● Self-employed: this component is made up of persons who are self-employed with or without employees. The rate is worked out as a percentage of the total employment.
● Type of employment: grouped into full-time employment and part-time employment. For the purpose of this release part-time employment is made up of full-time with reduced hours jobs and part-time jobs. The rate is worked out as a percentage of the total employees.
● Fixed-term contracts: refers to all those persons working with a definite contract or on a temporary basis. The rate is worked out as a percentage of the total employees.
● Time-related under-employment: refers to the number of persons having a main job but willing/wishing to work more than the number of hours currently worked in their job. The rate is worked out as a percentage of the total employment.
4. Unemployment
● Unemployment rate: the number of unemployed persons aged within a particular age bracket as a percentage of the labour force in the same age bracket (15-24, 25-74 and 15-74).
● Youth unemployment ratio: refers to the number of unemployed persons aged 15-24 as a percentage of the total population falling within the same age bracket.
● Not in employment or in education: the number of persons aged 15-24 years not in employment, education or training as a percentage of total persons aged 15-24. This indicator is referred to as the NEET rate.
● Long-term unemployment rate: the number of long-term unemployed (12 months or more) aged 15-74 years as a proportion of the labour force in the same age bracket.
5. Percentage totals may not add up due to rounding.
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Statistical Concepts
Metadata
NACE Classification
ISCED Classification
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Key Indicators on the Labour Market: 2023
- In 2023, 81 out of every 100 people aged 20 to 64 were employed.
- The services sector was the main contributor to the increase in employment rates between 2018 and 2023.
- The unemployment rate in 2023 stood at 3.5 per cent, well below the EU 27 average of 6.1 per cent.
- In 2023, five out of every 100 youths aged 15 to 24 were unemployed.
- The rate of early leavers from education and training (ELET) stood at 10.2 per cent during 2023, registering drops over a span of six years.
