Malta Insights

WOMEN RECORD LOWER UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A YEAR

The rate of unemployment among women stood at 3.7 per cent in April, the first time it fell lower than the male unemployment rate in twelve months. Unemployment among men stood at a stable 3.8 per cent for three months, while that among women fell from 4.0 per cent in February to 3.8 per cent in March.

Figures by the National Statistics Office show a total unemployment rate of 3.8 per cent in April, equal to the previous month but down from 4.4 per cent recorded in April last year. The total level of unemployment stood at 10,386, slightly below 10,403 registered in March and the fourth consecutive decrease in 2021.

The rate of youth unemployment fell by 0.7 percentage points month on month, closing at 8.4 per cent. Unemployment among the adult population increased from 3.2 per cent in March to 3.3 per cent in April.

PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS DECREASE IN MAY BUT TOTAL VALUE INCREASES

Final deeds of property sales in May surpassed a total value of €300 million for the first time since October 2018. Figures by the National Statistics Office show transactions adding up to €319.5 million, the highest total value generated in the 41 months under review since January 2018.

The number of final deeds of sale registered in May was, however, only the third highest so far this year with 1,158 transactions. In March and April, the total value of final deeds stood at 1,285 and 1,185, respectively. The value of transactions was €236.7 million in April and €266.8 million in March.

Gozo recorded the largest number of monthly final deeds for the second consecutive month in May although, the total 170 transactions were a decrease from the 186 registered in April. The second-biggest number was observed in the region spanning Birżebbuġa, Marsaskala, Marsaxlokk, Żejtun, Ħaż-żabbar, and Xgħajra, with 158 deeds, up from 143 the previous month. The Cottonera region saw the lowest number of deeds.

PRODUCTION GROWS ACROSS THE BOARD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A YEAR

Industrial Production increased by 5.3 per cent in April compared to the previous month, registering growth across all major groupings for the first month in twelve months. The Index of Industrial Production stood at 107.4, the highest in a year according to figures published by the National Statistics Office.

In April 2020, on the contrary, the Index recorded its lowest point in the period under review, dropping to 92.6.

Energy production grew the 13.1 per cent month-on-month in April, the biggest gain among the categories followed by consumer goods (6.5%). Capital goods and intermediate goods increased by 4.9 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively.

Compared with April last year, production jumped by 16.4 per cent. Capital goods enjoyed the highest growth (31.5%) while intermediate registered the lowest increase (6.6%).

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION ECLIPSES EU AVERAGE IN APRIL

Industrial production rose by 5.6 per cent between March and April, the second-highest rate among EU members. Figures by Eurostat show that the increase outpaced the EU average of 0.5 per cent and

was behind only the rise registered in Belgium (+7.4%). Compared with April 2020, however, the gain in Malta was the sixth-lowest in the bloc, at 17.5 per cent. The year-on-year average increase in the EU 27 stood at 38.7 per cent, led by Italy (+79.5%), Slovakia (+69.1%), and Romania (+64.5%).

Energy production and Durable consumer goods both recorded a rise of 2.9 per cent from March 2021, the highest increases among the major groupings. Non-durable goods, on the other hand, was the only category to register a decrease (-0.7%).

All industrial groupings experiences growth from April 2020, increasing the most in the durable consumer goods categories (+110.4%) and the least in energy production (+13.8%).

ENERGY FROM PHOTOVOLTAICS UP BY A FIFTH IN 2020

Production of energy from photovoltaic installations amounted to just under 185,000 kwp in 2020, an increase of 19.6 per cent from the previous year. Data by the National Statistics Office shows that half of the total energy was produced by the commercial sector albeit accounting for only 5.5 per cent of the national stock of PV installations.

The domestic sector makes up 93.6 per cent of all installations and, at an average peak power rating of 3.1 kwp, it generated 46.4 per cent of the total PV energy output.

The public sector contributed to 2.9 per cent of the total energy share with 0.9 per cent of all installations.

There were nearly 5,700 PV units installed in the Northern Harbour area, the highest number among districts. Meanwhile, in the South Eastern district, installations increased by 7.5 per cent from 2019, above the national increase rate of 6.8 per cent.

The Gozo and Comino district registered the lowest increase in installations year-on-year (5.4%) and accounted for 15 per cent of the total PV stock. The area, however, held the highest ratio of photovoltaic units in the domestic sector per 1,000 inhabitants.