Robust growth but challenges ahead
A1
LOW RISK for enterprise
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Economic risk
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Business environment risk
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Political risk
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Commercial risk
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Financing risk
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Economic risk
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Business environment risk
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Political risk
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Commercial risk
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Financing risk
Last updated in March 2023.
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GDP | USD17bn (World ranking 126, World Bank 2021) |
Population | 0.5mn (World ranking 171, World Bank 2021) |
Form of state | Republic |
Head of government | Robert Abela (PM) |
Next elections | 2027 |

- Strong economic and robust employment growth before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic
- Investor-friendly tax regime with considerable tax exemptions and incentives, which compensate for a relatively high corporate tax rate
- Solid public finances and favorable household and corporate debt levels
- English-speaking productive workforce, relatively low labor costs compared to other EU members

- High trade openness entails vulnerability to an unstable external environment
- Strong export dependence, especially on electrical machinery and equipment (mainly semiconductors) and petroleum
- Brexit and the Covid-19 pose major risks to tourism industry (high number of UK arrivals)
- Growing size of the strongly internationalized financial sector while being listed as (cooperative) tax haven by the OECD
- Needs structural reform in R&D and human capital training to raise growth potential
Trade structure by destination/origin
(% of total, 2021)
Exports | Rank | Imports |
---|---|---|
Germany
11.7%
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1 |
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China
7.7%
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2 |
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Italy
7,5%
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3 |
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France
6.1%
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4 |
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Singapore
4.7%
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5 |
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Trade structure by product
(% of total, 2021)
Exports | Rank | Imports |
---|---|---|
Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s.
28.7%
|
1 |
27.8%
Other transport equipment
|
Medicinal and pharmaceutical products
13.8%
|
2 |
27.7%
Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials
|
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.
13.2%
|
3 |
6.2%
Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s.
|
Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials
11.9%
|
4 |
3.2%
Medecinal and pharmaceutical products
|
Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and preparations thereof
4.5%
|
5 |
2.0%
Other industrial machinery and parts
|
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