Malta is the only country to distribute COLA.

How does COLA work in Malta?

Malta announces an annual cost of living adjustment. The Department of Industrial and Employment Relations says the increase is obligatory for employees: a full-time employee is entitled to the full amount, while a part-time employee receives a proportion based on hours worked. Under some collective agreements, wage increases may be additional to, or inclusive of, COLA.

For 2027, the Budget speech announced a COLA of €6.41 per week (p. 16). This is a flat weekly amount for a full-time employee, rather than the same percentage of every employee's wage.

Do other countries adjust wages for inflation?

Luxembourg links wages to the cost of living. Its government explains that, when the relevant price-index threshold is reached, wages are normally adjusted by 2.5%. Posted workers are subject to a different rule: indexation applies to the minimum wage, rather than higher wages.

Belgium also links wages and social benefits to a price measure known as the health index. Eurofound describes the private-sector system as a collection of sectoral arrangements, which vary in timing, coverage and calculation. Belgium's statistical office says the index is also used for pensions, social benefits and certain wages.

Cyprus has a cost of living allowance. Eurofound identifies it as a mechanism that compensates workers to some extent for inflation. Its coverage and operation differ from Malta's, so it should not be assumed that every worker is covered in the same way.

Are the systems identical?

No. Malta's annual flat amount differs from a percentage increase applied to wages. The countries also use different price measures and rules for when adjustments take effect. Workers elsewhere may receive wage increases through collective agreements or minimum-wage adjustments, which should not automatically be described as the same mechanism as Malta's COLA.

A cost of living adjustment also does not guarantee that every worker's purchasing power is fully protected. The outcome depends on the increase received, the worker's original wage, taxes and the actual changes in the prices they face.

Evaluation

The claim is false if it means Malta is the only country where workers receive a cost of living adjustment or inflation-linked wage increases. Cyprus has a cost of living allowance, while Belgium and Luxembourg operate wage indexation systems. Malta is among a relatively small number of EU countries with broad wage indexation, but the mechanisms are not identical.