Methodological Notes

● Emigration: the action by which a natural person leaves his or her usual residence in the territory of the Member State for a period that is, or is expected to last, a minimum of 12 months. This figure is measured by summing up the counts of all employment termination forms which ended during the reference year and residence permit holders who fail to extend their permits during the reference year, together with their dependants; resettled or repatriated asylum seekers who were previously given protection and other Maltese emigrants.

● Immigration: the action by which a natural person establishes his or her usual residence in a territory of a State for a period that is, or is expected to last, a minimum of 12 months. This figure is measured by summing up the count of all new employment engagement forms and residence permit holders, their dependants, asylum seekers granted protection, returned Maltese migrants and adoptions of children from foreign countries.

● Natural increase: the difference between the number of live births and the number of deaths during a reference year.

● Total population: all persons residing in the Maltese Islands. The total population at the end of year t is computed using the equation P_t = P_t-1 + B_t – D_t + I_t – E_t , where:

i.  P_t is the total resident population at the end of year t,

ii.  P_t-1 is the total resident population at the end of year t-1,

iii. B_t is the total number of babies whose birth parent was resident in Malta during year t,

iv.  D_t is the total number of registered deaths of persons resident in Malta during year t,

v.  I_t is the total immigration of both Maltese and foreign nationals registered during year t who immigrated with the intention to live in Malta for a period of at least 12 months,

vi.  E_t is the total emigration of both Maltese and foreign nationals resident in Malta registered during year t who leave the country for a period of at least 12 months.

● Resident live births: all babies whose parent(s) is(are) resident in Malta at the time of birth. Therefore the definition excludes babies born to parents who are resident abroad.

● Resident deaths: all registered resident Maltese and foreign deaths in Malta and Gozo. These counts exclude deaths of tourists, but include Maltese residents who die abroad and whose death is subsequently registered in Malta. This definition excludes stillbirths.

● Non-EU citizen: any person who is not a citizen of the European Union. As of reference year 2020, this also includes citizens of the United Kingdom.

● Usual residence: refers to the place where a person normally spends the daily period of rest, regardless of temporary absences for purposes of recreation, holidays, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage. Usual residents of a specific geographical area are:

i.  those who have lived in their place of usual residence for a continuous period of at least 12 months before the reference time; or 

ii. those who arrived in their place of usual residence during the 12 months before the reference time with the intention of staying there for at least one year.

● Usually resident population: refers to all persons who have their usual residence in a Member State at the reference time.

6. Sources:

● Demographic data in this release is based on records held by the Public Registry and the Directorate of Health Information and Research.

● Migration data is estimated based on a number of administrative records. These registers are not designed for direct compilation of population statistics in line with the required definitions, therefore complex estimation techniques are used to derive meaningful population statistics from these sources. Moreover, when no appropriate sources are available, auxiliary sources like surveys are used to address data gaps. A list of relevant data sources is provided below: