Malta’s GDP grows 6.6% in 2018, NSO figures show

Malta’s GDP was up by 6.6% in volume terms in 2018, according to figures published by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

“Provisional estimates indicate that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2018 amounted to €12,320m, an increase of €1,006m or 8.9% when compared to 2017,” the NSO publication says.

Considering the so-called “production approach” — summing the gross value added of all industries, which involves first determining its output and then subtracting the goods and services that were used up in the process of generating that output, according to the NSO — gross value added (GVA) of all industries was up by €832.4m in 2018, a rise of 8.3% as compared to the preceding year.

In light of the so-called “expenditure approach” — another method for calculating GDP and is derived by adding consumption of households, government and non-profit institutions serving households, investment, and net exports, the NSO says — GDP growth was mainly attributable to domestic demand. “Total final consumption expenditure increased by 10.2% in nominal terms and 8.5% in volume terms,” the NSO says.

Observing the so-called “income approach” — measuring economic activity, which shows how GDP at market prices is distributed into compensation of employees, operating surplus of enterprises and taxes on production and imports net of subsidies, the NSO says — GDP at current prices went up by slightly more than €1bn, as compared to 2017.

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.

Characterising the Maltese economy as one that “maintained a strong growth trajectory” last year, the European Commission earlier put the country’s estimated 2018 GDP growth at 6.2% in its Winter 2019 Economic Forecast. The EC also praised the country for a “particularly brisk expansion” in Q3, and tagged Malta as “one of the most dynamic economies in the EU” for the period.