How Malta’s growth in foreign population impacts wellbeing at the village

Over the past 15 years Malta’s population has grown at an outstanding rate. Adjusting for the pandemic years, net migration has averaged 21,400 people each year since 2019. For context, Mosta, the third largest town in Malta, has a population of 23,400. Effectively, net migration is creating the population equivalent of a new town each year. It comes to no surprise therefore that by the end of 2024 six localities had more foreign residents than Maltese; St Paul’s Bay, Pietà, Msida, Gżira, Sliema and St Julian’s. This is up from three in 2021.

For various reasons, the foreign population has concentrated in specific areas, which include rent affordability, close proximity to place of work or high connectivity by public transport. However, this boom in foreign population has an impact on wellbeing for the local Maltese village communities.

Focusing only on foreign-majority towns can be misleading. Towns with a foreign population between 40% and 50% amount to 4. A further 8 towns have a foreign population between 30% and 40%, while another 15 have a foreign population between 20% and 30%. In summary, a total of 27 towns have a foreign population of at least 20%.

This sudden and dramatic shift has put significant strain on the social contract of the village which has been traditionally characterised by easy familiarity of neighbours, the knowing nod at the grocer, festas, and hanging out at clubs or village squares.

A 2023 ERA-commissioned study on liveability and wellbeing helps explain why this matters. The report’s main objective was to understand how villagers feel their locality is liveable and offers a good degree of wellbeing. To investigate this, it covered three areas: economic, environment and social aspects.

The report is based on interviews and focus groups, all of which Maltese, which can help us understand better the perceptions and feelings of the local villagers.

The ERA report finds that place attachment and a sense of community are two very important factors (amongst others) for residents’ quality of life. And yet, they are weakest where population turnover and foreign-resident shares are highest. In the Northern Harbour and Northern districts, which include the country’s most multicultural localities, Maltese residents report the lowest sense of belonging (53.8% and 47.1% respectively) and the highest inclination to consider living elsewhere (47% and 45%). The report explicitly links this to localities “with the highest foreign community” and high turnover (born-elsewhere residents), naming San Pawl il-Baħar, Tas-Sliema and Msida.

Reading the interviews reveals a consistent pattern. Some long-timers describe warmth and everyday solidarity in Maltese dominant towns. The opposite is true for Maltese minority towns, where respondents describe frayed ties. In one of the most striking answers, one St Paul’s Bay responded said “You are a nobody… you are alone… no I do not feel part of the community,”; another female responded worries, “I do not feel safe to go out at night alone.”

Respondents in St Paul’s Bay and parts of Gozo also point to short-term renting and a recent surge of foreigners as changing the street-level feel and, at times, sparking tension “between different groups”.

Safety perceptions sit squarely in the social satisfaction domain. Across the sample, people generally feel safe. In fact, crime is generally among the lowest concerns among social indicators, but this masks pockets of unease, with St Paul’s Bay repeatedly cited in discussions of lower perceived safety. Gozo focus groups highlight Marsalforn and Xlendi as places where cheaper rents drew a rapid influx of mixed cultures, leading to situations where residents now “see most crime”. As one female St Paul’s Bay resident reported:

“The reality is… a mixed culture… perhaps a woman feels more unsafe in the evening.”

Based on the ERA report findings, social and economic factors related to population shift are the main points of concern for residents which negatively impact liveability and wellbeing in a locality. In fact, 3 out of the top 4 factors have direct, or indirect links to population shift:

1. Level of crime and sense of safety (16%)

2. Property prices (14%)

3. Increasing presence of foreigners (13%)

Population growth has also collided with the built environment. When asked to define an “ideal locality”, Maltese respondents pick environmental qualities above all else: good-quality green/open spaces (64.1%), low air pollution (49.3%), low construction (43.8%), low traffic (43.5%) and cleanliness (42.2%). As the population grows and the demand for housing intensifies, these environmental factors are inevitably being eroded.

On a weekly basis, the current rate of migration translates to 410 newcomers each week. All newcomers obviously need housing. Assuming that newcomers are willing to share a housing space between 3 individuals (a midway between the minimum of 1 and the maximum legal allowance of 6 persons in one housing unit), this would effectively create a demand for 135 housing units each week. To clarify, here we are not taking into account vacant properties, and properties that become vacant as a result of death, retirement to old age residential homes or other reasons. Nevertheless, it does give an indication of the scale of migration and how it can explain why six localities are now foreign-population-majority. 

It comes to no surprise therefore that the same study records broad dissatisfaction with construction and traffic. The worst-rated environmental factors that nationwide and focus-group participants, especially in Gozo, speak of is development that “is happening at a fast pace” and eroding local character.

It is not a stretch to see how a bigger, faster-moving population puts pressure on roads, waste systems and open space, and, through demand, on construction intensity; the report captures residents making precisely these connections.

These issues also hit different age groups differently. When it comes to youths for example, affordable housing is the main point of concern when it comes to planning a future in their locality of choice. In fact, housing affordability is the lowest-rated item in the social domain, a telling result for a cohort only starting to contemplate independence.

As more localities become unattractive, or outright not considered, the effective housing stock for Maltese families becomes increasingly narrower. Limited to a number of smaller towns. This increases the price pressure, aggravating further housing affordability.

The interviews add a behavioural twist. Northern Harbour/Northern residents are more likely to consider moving, often citing environmental reasons (quieter, less construction, more greenery) or leaving the country altogether—with St Paul’s Bay again prominent in the latter.

Put together, a pattern emerges. Where resident turnover is high and foreign shares large, belonging is weaker. In turn, where belonging is weaker and development pressure is intense, Maltese residents (especially younger and mid-career households) are more inclined to look elsewhere.

The ERA report highlights that a locality’s communal aspect is an important factor for the daily wellbeing of individuals. The data shows that there is increasing pressure on this delicate balance between sustaining high levels of economic growth, and daily life wellbeing.