Women drive Maltese job growth as family measures reduce gender gap

Malta’s labour force aged 15-64 has increased from 74.1% of the total workforce in 2018, to 80.7% in 2023 with women playing an important role in the growth.

Females were in fact the main contributors driving this growth, increasing by 9.7 points over the five-year period, while the contribution of men was 3.1% points higher than in 2018.

The highest activity rate was recorded among those aged 25 to 54, where 96% were active in the labour market (78% for 15-64). For females in the 24-54 cohort, activity rates registered a substantial increase 10-point increase.

Overall, the national activity rate (15-64) for 2023 was 5.7 points higher than that recorded for the EU-27. National activity rates were higher than EU-27 indicators for all age groups except for 55-64 year-olds, which in the EU is 9.6 points higher than national rates.

Between 2018 and 2023, male employment rates increased by an average of 0.7% per year whereas female rates increased by 1.9% per annum.

In both EU and in Malta the employment rate for males tends to be higher than the rate for females. With the exception of those between 55 and 64 years, at a national level, more males and females tend to be in employment when compared to the EU-27 average. The largest gap between national and EU-27 rates was recorded for the 15- to 24-year-olds, with the national employment rate reaching at 50.4% as compared with 35.2% for the EU-27.

Despite the fact that across all age brackets the employment rate has been increasing, the age structure of those in employment has been experiencing changes over the past years. The younger cohort had an increase of one percentage point between 2018 and 2023 whereas among the 20-64 increased by 6.4 points over the same period.

The data indicates a reduction in the employment gender gap between 2018 and 2023, thanks to a number of incentives encouraging females to join or stay in the labour market. In 2023, Malta’s employment gender gap was 4.3 percentage points more when compared to the EU-27 levels.

Employment in the services sector increased during the period under review, starting from 57% during 2018 and reaching 63.1% in 2023. During the same year, the female employment share in services was 20.4 points lower than the EU-27 average.

In 2023, approximately 15 out of every 100 employed persons were self-employed, 0.7 percentage points higher than EU-27 levels. On average, over the past six years, self-employed males accounted for 19.3% of total employed males. On the other hand, national rates for female self-employment were at par with those recorded within the EU-27.

On average, over the past six years, just over a tenth of employees were working on a part-time basis. During 2023, 17% of female employees in Malta had this type of working arrangement, whereas at EU-27 level, 29.7% of all female employees were engaged on a part-time basis. When comparing to EU-27, the national share of part-time workers was 8.4 percentage points lower than EU levels, with a difference of 12.7 percentage points lower for females and 3.2 percentage points less for males.

Unemployment rates have been declining steadily over the past years, with a rate of 3.5% being recorded in 2023, with male and female unemployment rates at 3.7 and 3.2% respectively.

For 2023, the youth unemployment ratio stood at 5.1%, which is 0.9 percentage points less than the EU-27 average. Across all the years reviewed, and both for national and EU-27 levels, the young (15-24) male unemployment ratios tended to be higher than those recorded for females.

The NEET (not in education, employment or training) rate indicator stood at 8.2%, one point less than the EU, which means youths in Malta aged 15-24 are more likely to be in either employment or education when compared to their EU counterparts.

Lifelong learning – the skills level and continuous training of the adult population of working age in the 25-64 bracket – stood 16.4% at 2023, an increase of 5.5 percentage points over 2018 levels and higher by 3.6 points than the EU average.

Tertiary educational attainment increased by 7.9 percentage points over the past six years, standing at 43.3%, almost at par with the EU-27 average.