Malta Insights

ELECTRIC AND HYBRID CARS INCREASE BY A FIFTH IN THE SECOND QUARTER

There are 8,376 licensed alternative powertrain vehicles, equivalent to two per cent of the total car stock in Malta at the end of June 2021. Figures by the National Statistics Office for the second quarter of 2021 show that electric and hybrid cars increased by a combined 19.7 per cent from the previous quarter.

The number of electric vehicles grew by 28.2 per cent over the period while petrol hybrid and diesel hybrid cars increased by 12.7 per cent and 21.6 per cent, respectively.

Comparatively, the volume of petrol-engine cars grew by 0.9 per cent and diesel-engine cars by 0.1 per cent from the first to the second quarter this year. The former, however, make the largest category of powertrains on the roads, adding up to 241,609 by the end of June. Diesel cars totalled 156,365.

A net average of 43 vehicles were added to Malta’s car stock every day between April and June; 56.8 per cent of the three-month total were passenger cars. Motorcycles, e-bikes, and Pa-bicycles made another 32.8 per cent of newly licensed vehicles.

INTERNAL TOURISM ACCOUNTS FOR 90% OF GOZO VISITORS IN 2020

Domestic tourism between Malta and Gozo rose to 360,460 in 2020, an increase of 52 per cent from 2019. Data by the National Statistics

Office shows that nearly 97 per cent of tourism flowed towards the Gozo region which includes Comino.

The number of tourists from Malta to Gozo rose to 348,000, higher than 227,000 in 2018 and 215,000 in 2019. Tourism in the other direction fell to 12,000 from 22,000 in 2019 and 18,000 in 2018.

Total tourist nights stood at 1,064,868, an increase of 72 per cent yearon-year, while the average length of stay also grew from 2.6 days to 3.0. The rise in visitors and nights pushed the combined expenditure to €59.4 million, up 51 per cent from the previous year even though per capita expenditure decreased by €1 to €165.

PRODUCER GOODS SUSTAIN MONTHLY RISE

Industrial producer prices in June rose for the fourth consecutive month, registering an increase of 0.36 per cent from May. The total producer price index stood at 110.88 in June, up from 108.90 in February according to figures by the National Statistics Office.

In the last year, the index has only recorded back-to-back increases once, with rises in November and December 2020.

Compared with June last year, intermediate goods made the highest gains among the main industrial groupings, up by 3.22 per cent, followed by consumer goods (+2.69%). Capital goods grew by 0.31 per cent while no change was registered in the energy sector.

The only month-on-month increase was observed in intermediate goods (+0.96%), offsetting the decrease of 0.21 per cent in capital goods. There was no change in consumer goods and energy.

WOMEN IN LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENT INCREASE BY 10 PER CENT

The overall rate of unemployment among women fell from 1,698 in June 2020 to 569 in the same month this year. Figures by the National Statistics Office show that the number of women listed on the unemployment register for under 21 weeks dropped by 81.5 per cent year-on-year. On the other hand, the rate of women on the register for 21 weeks and over grew by 9.9 per cent.

Just over 280 women were on the register for more than 21 weeks as of June 2020, 159 of whom registered for more than a year.

The rate of registered unemployment among men decreased across all spans. Men on the register for less than 21 weeks numbered 1,836 in June 2020, plunging to 445 a year later. From a combined 745 men in long-term registered unemployment last year, figures fell by 9.5 per cent in the 21-52 weeks category and by 4.3 per cent in the over-52-week category.

Total registered unemployment was 59.9 per cent lower in June 2021 compared with the same month in 2020, falling from 4,270 to 1,711.

FRANCE EMERGES AS BIGGEST TOURISM MARKET

Total visitors from arriving from France reached nearly 13,000 in June this year, the highest number of tourists from any single country. Figures by the National Statistics Office show an inflow of 70,300 travellers during the first month of summer, with EU travellers making 88 per cent of total arrivals.

Italy was the second largest market as Malta hosted 11,265 tourists from the peninsula for a combined 136,197 nights. Italians, in fact, registered the longest total stay, followed by French nationals with 100,868 nights.

Tourism from the UK accounted for 4.7 per cent of the total arrivals and almost 40 per cent of non-eu markets. Tourists from outside the EU spent an average of €1,286 per capita during their stay, higher than the average of €813 spent by visitors from within the EU. Average per capita expenditure by tourists from the UK was €927.

Travellers from Germany registered the highest per capita spend among the main EU markets, averaging €1,032, followed by €824 by French tourists. Italian and Polish were the lowest spenders, with an average expenditure per capital of €684 and €665, respectively.