Half of employed Gozitans work in public sector

Almost half of the employed population in Gozo works in the public sector, compared to a third in Malta, according to European study published today by the National Statistics Office.

With regard to unemployment, last year Gozo's rate was higher than Malta's (30.7 and 24.6 respectively) per 1,000 population.

The ratio of self-employed persons is higher in Gozo, with 56.9 per 1,000 population compared to Malta's 51.5.

In analysing the number of nights spent, non-resident tourists account for 96.5 per cent in mainland Malta. In Gozo, resident tourists account for over a quarter of total nights spent. When comparing 2008 to 2005, the share of domestic tourism in terms of the percentage of nights spent increased by 0.8 percentage points in Malta and by 2.4 percentage points in Gozo.

In view of the fact that there is less industrialisation in Gozo, Gozitan industry uses 6 per cent of electricity consumption in the island, against 31 per cent in Malta. Consequently, the patterns of electricity consumption also differ for households: these account for 34 per cent of total consumption in Malta and 55 per cent in Gozo.

In 2008, per capita, Gozitans consumed 89.7 cubic metres of water, 16 cubic metres more than their counterparts on mainland Malta, at 73.3 cubic metres.

Land under cultivation in both regions in 2007 was almost identical, with one-third of available land space earmarked for agricultural use.

The cattle population is larger in Gozo, while in mainland Malta in 2007, there were 292 pigs per 1,000 population compared to Gozo's 73.

As for education, figures show that in 2007 Gozitan children attained higher success rates in the Junior Lyceum exams, and the number of Gozitan university graduates per 1,000 population at 7.8 was higher than the 6.0 for Malta in 2007.

Gozo registered the least number of recorded car accidents, and it had the lowest rate of traffic casualties and fatalities last year.

The rate of thefts of cars was slightly higher in Malta than Gozo, but there were 3.5 (per 1000 population) burglaries from residences in Gozo to 3.0 in Malta.