Unemployment rate in Malta

Eurostat · Monthly · Importance

IMF forecast (WEO): 2026: 3.0% 2027: 3.0% 2028: 3.0% 2029: 3.0% 2030: 3.0% 2031: 3.0%

3.5% (Jul-26) ABS · % · Monthly · CSV

Period	%
Jul 2026	3.5%
Jun 2026	3.5%
May 2026	3.6%
Apr 2026	3.6%
Mar 2026	3.5%
Feb 2026	3.5%
Jan 2026	3.5%
Dec 2025	3.4%
Nov 2025	3.2%
Oct 2025	3.0%
Sep 2025	2.7%
Aug 2025	2.5%
Jul 2025	2.5%
Jun 2025	2.6%
May 2025	2.8%
Apr 2025	3.0%
Mar 2025	3.3%
Feb 2025	3.5%
Jan 2025	3.5%
Dec 2024	3.3%
Nov 2024	3.0%
Oct 2024	2.9%
Sep 2024	3.1%
Aug 2024	3.2%
Jul 2024	3.1%
Jun 2024	3.1%
May 2024	3.2%
Apr 2024	3.3%
Mar 2024	3.4%
Feb 2024	3.4%
Jan 2024	3.4%
Dec 2023	3.1%
Nov 2023	3.1%
Oct 2023	3.3%
Sep 2023	3.6%
Aug 2023	3.7%
Jul 2023	3.7%
Jun 2023	3.8%
May 2023	3.9%
Apr 2023	3.8%
Mar 2023	3.4%
Feb 2023	3.2%
Jan 2023	3.2%
Dec 2022	3.2%
Nov 2022	3.2%
Oct 2022	3.2%
Sep 2022	3.3%
Aug 2022	3.4%
Jul 2022	3.5%
Jun 2022	3.8%
May 2022	3.8%
Apr 2022	3.8%
Mar 2022	3.6%
Feb 2022	3.7%
Jan 2022	3.4%
Dec 2021	3.4%
Nov 2021	3.2%
Oct 2021	3.4%
Sep 2021	3.7%
Aug 2021	3.9%

Period	pp
Jul 2026	0.0
Jun 2026	-0.1
May 2026	0.0
Apr 2026	0.1
Mar 2026	0.0
Feb 2026	0.0
Jan 2026	0.1
Dec 2025	0.2
Nov 2025	0.2
Oct 2025	0.3
Sep 2025	0.2
Aug 2025	0.0
Jul 2025	-0.1
Jun 2025	-0.2
May 2025	-0.2
Apr 2025	-0.3
Mar 2025	-0.2
Feb 2025	0.0
Jan 2025	0.2
Dec 2024	0.3
Nov 2024	0.1
Oct 2024	-0.2
Sep 2024	-0.1
Aug 2024	0.1
Jul 2024	0.0
Jun 2024	-0.1
May 2024	-0.1
Apr 2024	-0.1
Mar 2024	0.0
Feb 2024	0.0
Jan 2024	0.3
Dec 2023	0.0
Nov 2023	-0.2
Oct 2023	-0.3
Sep 2023	-0.1
Aug 2023	0.0
Jul 2023	-0.1
Jun 2023	-0.1
May 2023	0.1
Apr 2023	0.4
Mar 2023	0.2
Feb 2023	0.0
Jan 2023	0.0
Dec 2022	0.0
Nov 2022	0.0
Oct 2022	-0.1
Sep 2022	-0.1
Aug 2022	-0.1
Jul 2022	-0.3
Jun 2022	0.0
May 2022	0.0
Apr 2022	0.2
Mar 2022	-0.1
Feb 2022	0.3
Jan 2022	0.0
Dec 2021	0.2
Nov 2021	-0.2
Oct 2021	-0.3
Sep 2021	-0.2
Aug 2021	0.0

Period	pp
Jul 2026	1.0
Jun 2026	0.9
May 2026	0.8
Apr 2026	0.6
Mar 2026	0.2
Feb 2026	0.0
Jan 2026	0.0
Dec 2025	0.1
Nov 2025	0.2
Oct 2025	0.1
Sep 2025	-0.4
Aug 2025	-0.7
Jul 2025	-0.6
Jun 2025	-0.5
May 2025	-0.4
Apr 2025	-0.3
Mar 2025	-0.1
Feb 2025	0.1
Jan 2025	0.1
Dec 2024	0.2
Nov 2024	-0.1
Oct 2024	-0.4
Sep 2024	-0.5
Aug 2024	-0.5
Jul 2024	-0.6
Jun 2024	-0.7
May 2024	-0.7
Apr 2024	-0.5
Mar 2024	0.0
Feb 2024	0.2
Jan 2024	0.2
Dec 2023	-0.1
Nov 2023	-0.1
Oct 2023	0.1
Sep 2023	0.3
Aug 2023	0.3
Jul 2023	0.2
Jun 2023	0.0
May 2023	0.1
Apr 2023	0.0
Mar 2023	-0.2
Feb 2023	-0.5
Jan 2023	-0.2
Dec 2022	-0.2
Nov 2022	0.0
Oct 2022	-0.2
Sep 2022	-0.4
Aug 2022	-0.5
Jul 2022	-0.4
Jun 2022	0.0
May 2022	0.1
Apr 2022	0.2
Mar 2022	-0.3
Feb 2022	-0.5
Jan 2022	-1.1
Dec 2021	-1.4
Nov 2021	-1.9
Oct 2021	-2.0
Sep 2021	-1.8
Aug 2021	-1.8

About this indicator

Source

EUROSTAT

Frequency

Monthly

Release

About one month after the reference period (monthly or quarterly depending on the country).

What it is

The unemployment rate is the share of jobless people in Malta's labour force. It is published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) (harmonised by Eurostat) and is the main gauge of the labour market and the economy's ability to create jobs.

How it's calculated

Derived from the labour force survey of a wide sample of households, using internationally comparable ILO criteria: a person is counted as unemployed if jobless, available to work and actively seeking. It is expressed as a percentage of the labour force.

Market implications

It reflects the dynamism of the Maltese economy; a strong labour market boosts consumption and household income. As Malta is in the euro area, monetary policy is set by the ECB, so employment weighs mainly on fiscal policy and growth.

Limitations

It is worth distinguishing whether the rate moves with labour demand or with changes in the labour force. As a very small economy with heavy reliance on tourism and foreign labour, the data are subject to sampling error and revision.