Fewer babies being born, more foreign residents, more vacant dwellings and an internal migration towards newer towns booming with construction: this is the demographic tale of modern Malta, recounted by the census and other statistics. BY JAMES DEBONO
The foreign ‘invasion’
According to the census by 2005 the number of foreign residents has surpassed the 12,000 mark. 6% of Maltese nationals were born in another country, mostly in the United Kingdom.
The number of foreign nationals living in Malta had increased from 1.9% in 1995 to 3% in 2005.
The census records that between 2000 and 2005, 7220 persons had migrated to Malta; while internally 27% had migrated to the northern region which includes Saint Paul’s Bay and Mellieha.
British expats, who total 4,713, account for a third of foreigners currently living in Malta. The second largest contingent consists in Italians who numbered 585, followed by 518 Germans and 127 French.
The immigrant community also includes 1,079 from other European Union countries and a significant 2,033 from European non-EU countries like Russia, Serbia the Ukraine and Turkey. 493 hailed from Libya. 797 from North America and Australia and another 2,062 from the rest of the world.
In the census St Paul’s Bay emerges as Malta’s most cosmopolitan locality, with 14% of its population consisting in expatriates. British expats account for 7% of the northern locality’s population while another 7% consists of a variety of other nationalities.
The seaside locality hosts 387 persons from non-EU European countries like Russia, Ukraine and Turkey. It also hosts 239 persons from non-European countries and 43 refugees. Over the past decade St Paul’s Bay attracted 1,122 immigrants – 208 of which came in 2004.
Sliema also emerges as one of Malta’s most cosmopolitan cities, with 10% of its population beingforeign-born. The largest foreign component of its population – 446 – hail from non-EU, European countries.
Only 21% of Sliema’s 1,338 foreign residents hail from Britain. Sliema also includes 149 residents from non-European countries, 37 expats from the USA, 47 Libyans and 27 refugees.
Gozitan localities like Munxar are also attracting a significant number of foreigners enamoured by Gozo’s natural beauty and by its relatively low population density.
Over the last five years, Munxar has attracted 52 immigrants from other countries. Expats now make up for a significant 10% of Munxar’s population. These include 67 British and 10 German expats.
Other Gozitan localities attracting a large number of expats are Nadur and Xaghra, which since 2000 have seen 128 and 119 new foreign residents respectively
Despite its unique architecture and majestic fortifications, Valletta has only attracted 114 foreign residents, which constitute less than 2% of its population.
According to ETC statistics most foreign workers in Malta either hail from the European Union (46.4%), or have legally entered Malta from non-EU countries (38.5%).
Workers from the former Yugoslavia and former communist nations are the greatest cohort of non EU workers on the island.
Migration from Africa
It is also calculated that Malta currently hosts around 5,000 irregular immigrants who arrived from sub Saharan countries in the past five years.
Although there have been almost 12,500 arrivals in Malta since March 2002, over 7,000 have been repatriated or have otherwise left Malta. Of those that remain today, about 2,235 are in detention awaiting the processing of their case, or their repatriation. A total of 2,137 are in open accommodation centres and about a further 1,000 are living in the community. Very few, if any, of them want to stay in Malta. In the main, t tend to land here inadvertently, having had as their destination of choice mainland Europe, not Malta. In the central Mediterranean, this is mainly a route which takes them to Lampedusa, Sicily and thence onwards to Italy and northern Europe. In due course, many of the 5,000 or so here today will leave Malta either through repatriation efforts or through the resettlement programmes.
Effectively this means that migration from Africa although highly visible especially in localities like Marsa and B’Bugia in the short term will only have a limited impact on Maltese demographic patterns.
Yet the high visibility of migrants from North Africa has contributed to the perception that very few actually leave. A MaltaToday survey in April revealed that 50.4% believed that fewer than 500 migrants have been repatriated or left the island in the past five years. A further 5.7% believe no immigrants at all left the island in the same period.
Just under half the respondents (44.3%) correctly think that the number of immigrants currently residing in Malta stands at between 4,000 and 6,000. But a staggering 12% believe the figure is higher than 10,000.
Asylum seekers, persons enjoying humanitarian protection and refugees constitute also constitute a minority of 14% of the total number of legally employed foreign workers, and most of them occupy lower-end jobs in the construction and tourism industries.
Declining birth rates
The increase in the number of foreigners living in Malta contrasts with the sharp decrease in the number of newborns.
The number of births declined by 27% in the past 30 years from 5533 children born in 1988 to just 4125 born in 2008.
Significantly the number of newborns increased significantly during old labour days from 5145 newborns in 1968 to 5641 in 1978.
This coincided with the introduction of children allowances and the introduction of the first family friendly measures like maternity leave.
By 1988 the number of newborns had already decreased slightly to 5533 in 1988.
The sharpest decline was registered in the next ten years which coincided with higher rates of economic growth which resulted in higher material expectations among the middle classes.
Between 1988 and 1998 the birth rate had fallen from 5533 to 4488-a decline of 19%.
The number of new borns continued to decline in the next decade during which material expectations continued to grow despite periods of economic gloom.
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