By the end of 2018, FDI flows into Malta grew by a year-on-year €353m to €3.3b, up from 2017’s €3b, offering a slight rebound. Nevertheless, according to NSO figures, FDI inflow had been dropping from 2014’s €8.5b to €4.6b in 2015 and €3.7b in 2016, as the cover image of the present article shows.

On the other hand, ODI flows had been on the rise, from -€1.7b in 2014 — which signals divestment — to €4.6b in 2015, €4.8b in 2016, €6.3b in 2017, reaching €6.2b by the end of 2018.

Despite ODI flows outpacing FDI flows, the country’s total foreign direct investment stock was on a gradual rise by the year, while direct investment stock position roughly stagnated, chiefly due to divestment in manufacturing, NSO statistics suggest.

By the end of 2018, Malta’s FDI stock reached €180.9b — a year-on-year increase of €8.8b —, while the ODI stock dropped by €0.7b to €61b, NSO figures suggest.

Financial and insurance activities dominated both FDI and ODI flows in 2018, by covering 97.1% and 99.4% of the total, respectively. The vertical was the most significant contributor of both FDI and ODI between 2014 and 2018 with its share remaining well above 90%.

In foreign direct investment flows terms, financial and insurance activities roughly halved from 2014’s €8.4b to 2015’s €4.2b, dropping further to €3.2b in 2016, €2.7b in 2017 and €2.9b in 2018.

In an outward direct investment flows approach, however, after 2014’s -€1.7b — signalling divestment —, the financial and insurance activities sector jumped to €4.7b in 2015, growing further to €4.8b in 2016, €6.3b in 2017 and another €6.3b in 2018.

EDITORIAL NOTE: The present article is based on figures the National Statistics Office (NSO) has recently published in its annual publication, available for public view on their official website.

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The EU statistics office recently published a set of statistical articles on the Europe 2020 strategy, which is the European Union’s agenda for jobs and growth for the current decade. The Eurostat offers an analysis of Malta as of 2017.

Malta met its primary energy consumption target of 0.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) in 2016. One toe is the amount of energy released when burning one tonne of crude oil. It approximately equals 42 gigajoules or 11,630 kilowatt-hours.

Additionally, Malta increased its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in non-ETS sectors by 20.3%, significantly exceeding its Europe 2020 target of limiting such emissions increase to 5%. Non-ETS emissions include transport, agriculture, waste and industrial emissions outside the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the municipal and housing sector with buildings, small sources, households and services.

The number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Malta increased by 4.9% between 2008 and 2016, which the Eurostat says has moved the island nation further away from its Europe 2020 goal.

Malta’s steady employment rate increase since 2014, however, helped the island nation reach its respective Europe 2020 target in 2017, the Eurostat publication says.

Due to continuous increases in the share of the 30-34 age group with tertiary education 2008 and 2017, Malta has come within 3 percentage points of its national target by 2020. Nevertheless, a significant drop in the share of early leavers from education and training since 2008 to 2016, Malta had further to go to reach its national 2020 target, when compared to other member states.

Europe 2020 emphasises smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as a way to strengthen the EU economy and prepare its structure for the challenges of the next decade, the Eurostat says in its publication. The strategy aims to drive high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion in EU member states while also reducing the impact on the natural environment, the publication adds.

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This all comes despite the fact that the sector has been eligible to quite some funding. The NSO report notes that the agricultural sector was assisted through the delivery of a range of financial aid through EU-funded programmes — amounting to €25.4m — which helped the net operating surplus of the sector to increase by 31.4% €71.4m.

The sector’s output increased only by a slight 0.2% to €122.1m, while expenses incurred under intermediate consumption rose by 3.8% to €64.8m. Additionally, consumption of fixed capital increased by 6.4% to a total of €6.8m, while compensation of employees rose by 7.9% to €4.5m on total, according to NSO figures.

“Ultimately, upon adding the latter surplus to the negative net property income of €1.1m recorded in 2018, the net entrepreneurial income of the sector is estimated to have improved by 32.1% to €70.3m,” the NSO report says.

Although, produce coming from secondary agricultural activities has seen growth, it was offset by drops in crop production. Agricultural holdings were up by 7.3%, animal products increased by 1.9% and livestock products grew by 1.6%; while crop production fell by 2.9%, according to NSO figures.

Intermediate consumption, which measures specific expenses incurred during the production processes of the agricultural sector, was mainly marked by increases in livestock feeding expenses, energy and fuel costs by 5.7% and 2.9%, respectively, the NSO report adds.

EDITORIAL NOTE: For further details and representation of data see the NSO’s official report available through its website.

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The Malta airport tagged July’s growth as “unprecedented”, as the average daily number of passengers travelling through the hub surpasses the number of people inhabiting Malta’s most populous town; St Paul’s Bay, press statement sent to Business Malta says.

The growth was also matched by aircraft movements increasing by 4.5% to total more than 5,000 take-offs and landings throughout the month, as compared to the same month a year earlier.

Seat capacity was up by 5.6% and the seat load factor (SLF) stood at 87.0% — the metric indicating how much of the carrying capacity of airlines operating to and from Malta airport was used.

All five top markets boosting July’s traffic performed better than a year ago. The United Kingdom saw an increase of 3.9%, Italy by 1.5%, Germany by 18.2%, France by 6.8% and Spain by 10%.

The spur in figures was partly supported by an improved schedule for the summer months, which introduced several new routes including Cardiff, Exeter, Genoa, Verona, Lamezia and Perugia, the MLA says. Other developments include the extension of the Leipzig, Berlin and Hamburg routes into the summer months, and increased capacity on several routes such as Rome Fiumicino, Lyon, Madrid, Valencia and Bilbao. Moreover, the airport’s Cruise and Fly programme was a contributing factor to the solid performance recorded by both the United Kingdom and Germany.

Seating area expands 10%

Having just opened a new seating area at departure previously occupied by a retail outlet, seating capacity of the airport has improved by 10%, prior to August’s “holiday rush”, according to another press statement sent to BM.

The new waiting area incorporates Maltese textures mainly through the use of limestone, which approach could likely be adopted in other parts of the terminal, MLA expects, to create a “better sense of place for the millions of tourists who pass through” the hub every day. Indeed, tourist numbers soared above 2.6 million in 2018, and expectations are high that the figure will further improve this year.

The new area has introduced two seating options catering to the needs of both travellers looking to lounge away their waiting time until departure and passengers looking to make the most of their wait by getting some work done, MLA says in the press statement. The business bars have been equipped with charging points to help business travellers quickly catch up with their daily duties prior to taking off.

The new seating area comes as but one addition to Malta Airport’s expanding infrastructure. In the following year, MLA expects to add further improvements, such as more retail space being freed up to allow for better passenger circulation and the introduction of additional seating.

Malta International Airport has also been working on finalising plans for a terminal expansion, which will see the building occupy a much larger footprint and offer better facilities as well as extended operational areas.

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In a year-on-year comparison, increases were registered in the production of energy (15.7%) and capital goods (2.3%) while the production of intermediate goods and consumer goods decreased by 2.3% and 1.6%, respectively.  

In a month-on-month comparison, increases were registered in the production of energy (4.7%), consumer goods (4.55) and capital goods (2.5%) while the production of intermediate goods saw a decrease of 2.6%.

The full report with charts and figures is available for download at the official website of NSO. 

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The cinemas employed an average of 174 people, 83.5% on a part-time basis. 

Furthermore, in Malta and Gozo, there were 450 films projected and they registered a total of 839,931 admissions in 2018. In addition, the total screenings amounted to 45,011 with an average of 100 screenings per film. 

The 91.5% of customers have watched films from the US and Maltese productions attracted 2.1% of the total number of admissions.  

Furthermore, 3D movies accounted for 11.8%, while 87.2% of admissions were for non-3D films. Moreover, 292 fiction films amounted to 292, attracting 77.3% of people. On their part, animation films amounted to 49 and attracted 19.8%.

Mercury’s life rules 2018

The most popular movies were “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” and “Johnny English Strikes Again”, the NSO press release says.  

Freddy Mercury and his life story attracted, in fact, 8.2% of the total admissions, while “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” and “Johnny English Strikes Again” engaged 5.8% and 5%, respectively. 

In terms of age classification, 33.8% of the films were rated as 15 while 18.9% 12A, which means they were suitable for children aged 12 and over. Only 2.2% were rated as 18+.

Focusing on running time, 62.4% of the movies fell within the 76 to 120 minutes bracket. These were followed by durations of 121 to 180 minutes, amounting to 27.3%. 

On the one hand, the “Live/Encore” type of shows which includes operas, ballets, and theatre, had the longest-running time with an average of 165 minutes. On the other hand, animation films were the shortest with an average of 91 minutes.

The full report with charts and tables is available for download at the NSO website. 

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The main cause of the increase was the price index of apartments, and also the maisonettes price index went up, the NSO says.

Furthermore, the PPI registered a rise of 5.3% in the first quarter of 2018, when compared to the same quarter of 2017. Therefore, the percentage of increase was higher during the first quarter of this year, according to the NSO provisional figures. 

In addition, the PPI is compiled on a quarterly basis in order to ensure that all figures are substantiated by larger samples and shows the price changes of residential properties purchased by households.

The PPI covers apartments, maisonettes and terraced houses only. The price for the properties being included is deemed to be indicative of developments in the property market in general.

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

EDITORIAL NOTE: The cover picture of the present article has been changed to one that resembles the Maltese property market better.

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The key contributors were current taxes on income and wealth and capital transfers receivable, with an increase of €90.6m and €17.9m respectively. Increases were also registered in taxes on production and imports (€14.2m) and net social contributions receivable (€12.1m). Nevertheless, decreases were registered in market output (€40.1m), property income receivable (€4.4m) and current transfers receivable (€1m).

In addition, the total expenditure in Q1 amounted to €1.1473b, showing an increase of €99.9m over the corresponding quarter of 2018. Increases were recorded in almost all categories, mainly in intermediate consumption (€47.5m), gross capital formation (€36.6m), current transfers payable (€34m), compensation of employees (€19m), subsidies payable (€3.8m) and social benefits and social transfers in kind (€0.4m). Nevertheless, decreases were recorded in capital transfers payable (€39.4m) and property income payable (€1.9m).

In order to achieve compliance with the provisions of ESA 2010, adjustments to the Consolidated Fund data were made. In the first quarter of 2019, these adjustments triggered a decrease of €117.7m to the deficit of the Consolidated Fund, as the NSO press release says. 

Furthermore, the major increase in financial transactions in assets during the first quarter was currency and deposits, registering an increase of €83.7m over the previous quarter. Increases were also recorded in other accounts receivable (€122.2m), equity and investment fund shares (€4.9m) and long-term debt securities (€4.8m). 

In relation to financial transactions in liabilities, the major increase was recorded in currency and deposits (€99.2m), followed by short-term debt securities (€51m) and long-term debt securities (€30m), according to the NSO press release.  

Short-term loans registered a decrease of €2.5m, while long-term loans increased by €2.3m.

Government debt increases

At the end of March, the general government debt stood at €5.8473b, showing an increase of €113.3m over the corresponding quarter of 2018. Central government debt increased by €113.2m, amounting to €5.8442b, where the largest decrease was underpinned by a drop in long-term debt securities of €191.6m. 

Conversely, short-term debt securities increased by €71.8m. Long-term loans and short-term loans registered an increase of €27.3 and €7.5m respectively. Currency and deposits stood at €376.3m, an increase of €198.2m over March 2018. 

This includes the euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury considered as liability for central government and the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond, the latter amounting to €291.9m. The Local Government debt stood at €3.1m.

The government-guaranteed debt amounted to €1.0680b at the end of March 2019, a decrease of €17m when compared to the corresponding period of 2018.

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

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Focusing on the whole year, this growth was due to a rise of 2.06% in intermediate goods, 1.3% in consumer goods and 0.06% in capital goods.

Furthermore, industrial producer prices for the domestic market increased by 0.80%. Price rises were recorded within intermediate goods (1.87%) and consumer goods (1.17%). 

Non-domestic prices increased by 1.48% due to a rise of 2.03% within the non-euro area and 0.44% within the euro area, as the NSO press release says.  

Focusing on May 2019, the producer price index for total industry registered an increase of 0.38% over April. 

This was due to a price rise of 1.02% within intermediate goods but mitigated by a drop of 0.13% in the consumer goods sector.

On the one hand, domestic prices rose by 0.02% due to a rise of 0.07% in the consumer goods sector.

On the other hand, non-domestic prices rose by 0.61% due to an increase of 0.76% within the non-euro area and 0.31% within the euro area. 

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

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In 2018, the stock of PV installations amounted to 25,007 of which 84.5% were installed in Malta and 15.5% were in Gozo and Comino. The Northern Harbour and Western districts in Malta accounted for 37.5% of the total stock of PV installations with 4,831 and 4,544 installations, respectively.

When compared to 2017, new installations increased by 9.5%. The percentage increases were highest in the Southern Harbour district (11.7%) and lowest in the districts of Gozo and Comino (8.3%), according to the NSO figures.

In addition, the domestic sector reported 93.9% of the total stock of PV installations. The commercial and public sectors accounting for 5.1% and 1%, respectively.

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

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