Labor market in Malta

Malta's labor market had 333,682 employed people in Q1 2026. The activity rate for ages 15 to 64 was 82.6%, the employment rate was 79.6% and the unemployment rate for ages 15 to 74 was 3.5%. There were 165,082 inactive people. Full-time employment accounted for 294,973 jobs and primary part-time employment for 38,709. Self-employed people represented 13.2% of employment, and actual working time averaged 35.0 hours per week. Employment was higher among men than women, at 84.5% compared with 73.7%. Retirement or early retirement accounted for 43.0% of the main reasons for inactivity. Tertiary-educated workers represented 40.0% of employed people. At the end of March 2026, Jobsplus recorded 307,783 full-time jobs. Malta accounted for 289,250 and Gozo for 18,533. About 82% of these jobs were private-sector positions, 18% were public-sector positions and 10.5% were held by self-employed people under the relevant classification. Wholesale and retail trade together with transport and storage and information and communication represented 21.6% of full-time employment. Public administration and defence, education, human health and social work represented 20.7%, while professional, scientific and technical activities together with administrative and support services represented 20%. The private sector accounted for 96.5% of reported vacancies, and enterprises with 1 to 49 employees offered more than half of them. Construction had a vacancy rate of 5.3%. Labor demand has expanded substantially. Full-time employment increased by 72% between 2015 and 2025, while registered jobseekers fell from 4,615 to 1,236. Labor supply increased by 68%. Employers reported 10,022 vacancies in Q1 2026, 13.4% more than a year earlier, with a vacancy rate of 3.3%. More than 60% of vacancies were concentrated across wholesale and retail, transport and storage, accommodation and food services, professional and scientific activities, and administrative and support services. NACE Rev. 2.1 is used for sector classification from reference year 2025, so comparisons with earlier classifications may be revised. Malta and Gozo and Comino form distinct labor-market areas within Malta. In 2024, residents held 271,920 full-time jobs in the Malta Region and 19,554 in Gozo and Comino. The private-sector share was 82.6% for Malta residents and 68.5% for Gozo and Comino residents. By workplace, the Malta Region had 276,640 full-time jobs. Some residents commute between the islands: 4,166 Gozo and Comino residents worked in the Malta Region, while 554 Malta residents worked in Gozo and Comino. The Southern Harbour district accounted for 28.1% of registered jobseekers in the available district comparison. Jobsplus recorded 1,156 registered jobseekers in Malta and 80 in Gozo in 2025. Qualifications can be academic, vocational, formal, non-formal or informal. The Malta Qualifications Framework, or MQF, organizes qualifications across eight levels. The Malta Qualifications Recognition Information Centre, known as MQRIC, is Malta's ENIC-NARIC center for assessing recognition and comparability of foreign qualifications. Recognition can matter for employment, promotion and a Single Permit application. Regulated professions may also require recognition by their designated professional authority. An appeal against an MQRIC decision costs €10. The MySkills scheme is available to people who are legally resident in Malta and aged at least 15, including employed, unemployed and inactive people. Subject to the available funds and the course catalogue, reimbursement can cover up to 100% for unemployed applicants or 80% for employed applicants, with a maximum of €5,000 per application. Average monthly basic salary was €2,270 in Q1 2026. The figure excludes tax, social contributions, overtime, allowances and bonuses. Average basic salary was €3,105 in financial and insurance activities, €3,628 for managers and €1,410 for elementary occupations. Malta's 2026 statutory national minimum wage for workers aged 18 or older was €229.44 per week, or €5.74 per hour, with part-time work calculated pro rata. A sectoral Wage Regulation Order can set a higher applicable floor. Employees may also receive a mandatory bonus and a weekly allowance. Comparing an offer therefore requires checking the basic salary, working hours, overtime, allowances, bonuses, applicable sectoral order and payment method. Jobsplus is Malta's public employment service. Its vacancy portal supports job matching, registration and career guidance, and vacancies can be transferred automatically to EURES, the European network for employment mobility. In 2024, EURES Malta recorded 925 vacant posts, shortlisted 1,821 CVs and made 41 direct placements. Among registered jobseekers, desired occupational groups included clerical and support work at 26%, service and sales work at 16%, technical and associate professional work at 15% and professional work at 11%. Nationality affects access to employment. EU and EEA nationals do not need a Single Permit to work in Malta. A Single Permit combines an employment licence and residence permission for a third-country national, meaning a person from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland in the relevant permit system. It generally covers employment lasting more than six months and is tied to the named employer and job, so it does not authorize work for another employer or in another position. Since 1 October 2025, the standard labour-market test requires a vacancy advertisement on Jobsplus and EURES for three weeks within the preceding two months. The period is two weeks for the Key Employee Initiative, Specialist Employee Initiative, EU Blue Card and Skilled Occupation List routes. Health care, elderly and disability care, regulator-endorsed cases, sportspersons and changes of employer have stated exemptions or different rules. First-time third-country applicants have used the Pre-Departure Course Portal since 5 January 2026. From 1 March 2026, certificate verification also applies. The course has two mandatory modules, an English interview, about 10 to 12 hours per module and a €250 fee. Some sectors may additionally require a sector-specific Skills Pass. Employers must provide applicant feedback for the labor-market test and may not charge recruitment or termination costs to the worker. Salary payments must be made through a bank or electronic method. Employment conditions include the applicable minimum wage, Wage Regulation Order, cost-of-living adjustment, bonus and weekly allowance. Employers with at least the relevant workforce threshold also face a 2% disability employment quota. Foreign nationals accounted for 135,417 employees at the end of 2025; approximately 30% were EU nationals, 70% were third-country nationals and 0.3% were EFTA nationals. Third-country nationals were concentrated in elementary occupations, service and sales, technical and associate professional work, craft work, plant and machine operation, and professional work. Their largest sectors included professional, scientific, technical, administrative and support services; wholesale, retail, transport, storage and information and communication; accommodation and food; construction; and manufacturing, quarrying and utilities.