One World - State of the environment

Are sectoral contributions to GDP moving in environmentally-friendly directions?

Malta's economic structure is a key determinant of environmental impacts: consumption of natural resources, use of energy, the types and volumes of pollutants and waste produced are all dependent on the share of various sectors in the economy (as well as the environmental performance of the individual operations).

In line with the long-term trend towards a more serviceoriented economy, the share of direct production fell by 0.61 per cent between 2004 and 2005, contributing to 25 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2005. Overall, during this period, the share of the sectors with the strongest environmental impacts tended to decline. Electricity, gas and water supply fell by 0.35 per cent, while manufacturing and hotels and restaurants declined by 0.34 per cent and 0.32 per cent respectively. In addition, the share of real estate fell by 0.17 per cent. However, the share of the construction sector, and the transport, storage and communication sector increased slightly by 0.10 per cent and 0.08 per cent respectively between 2004 and 2005.

The State Of the Environment Report 2006 is a Mepa publication available on www.mepa.org.mt.