Quarter of those employed have tertiary education

Over 40% of those aged 15 and over who were in employment in the last three months of 2017 had a low level of education, with less than five O-levels, while over 56% of all the 15 plus population in Malta have such a low level of education. The figures show that 25.3% of employed persons over 15 had a tertiary education. 

The figures emerged from the latest Labour Force Survey, conducted by the National Statistics Office, covering the last quarter of 2017.

The statistics show that during the last three months of 2017, more than half the population aged 15 and over, or around 203,600 people, were in some from of employment. Just over 2% of people in the same age group were unemployed, amounting to 7,891 people, while there were almost 160,000 people who were inactive, 43% of the population aged over 15.

Those working in public administration, human health, education, defence and social work activities formed the largest percentage of the total employed population, at 27.5% - this includes both public and private entities.

This amounts to 56,000 people being employed in the period reviewed in this sector, an increase of almost 3,000 compared to the same period in 2016. In total percentage terms, however, the increase was of only 0.1% of the overall workforce.

The second largest sector of employment was wholesale and retail trade and related areas, followed by manufacturing, quarrying and other connected industries.

81% of males, 57% of females employed

Around 81% of males and 57% of females aged 15 to 64 years were employed in the period under review, amounting to about 69 out of every 100 person in that age bracket.

Most, around 176,500, worked on a full-time basis, while 27,000 held a part-time job as their primary employment. Full-timers worked on average 41.2 hours a week, with part-timers working around half the number of hours.

Just under 14% of workers were self-employed.

The unemployment rate in the same period stood at 3.7%.

Financial services with highest salaries

The average annual basic salary of employees in the last three months of 2017 was estimated at €17,900, with those working in the financial services sector having the highest basic salaries, at slightly under €27,000.

Those in low-level occupations had average salaries of around €12,000, while the figures stood at a little under €31,000 for managers.