Women outnumber men by nearly 2,000

Women outnumbered men by 1,863 in 2008 when the female population in Malta reached 207,736.

In a statement issued on the occasion of Women’s Day, being celebrated on Monday, the NSO said 22 per cent were aged between 50 and 64 and nearly the same proportion were between 20 and 34. The percentage of females aged 65 and over was four per cent higher than that for males.

The expectation of life for females stood at 82 in 2008, an increase of 39 years since 1930.

The total fertility rate decreased from 3.6 in 1960 to 1.4 in 2008. Birth statistics also showed an increasing trend in the average age of mothers at first birth, from 23 in 1960 to 27 in 2008.

In the same year, 43 per cent of brides in Malta were aged between 25 and 29 and nearly 70 per cent of brides were Maltese.

According to the European Health Interview Survey held in 2008, 71 per cent of female respondents aged 15 and over said that they did less than 10 minutes of moderate exercise per week.

A total 23 per cent of female respondents said that they exercised moderately for more than one hour, compared to 27 per cent of males.

This survey also highlighted trends related to smoking habits. Nearly 16 per cent of female respondents said that they smoked on a daily basis, while 79 per cent said that they did not smoke at all.

The proportion of male smokers was higher than that of females. The number of regular male smokers exceeded that of females by nearly 10 percentage points.

Figures from the 2008 Survey on Income and Living Conditions revealed that 16 per cent of the total female population living in households was at risk of poverty.

This figure stood at 14 per cent among males. Significant differences were recorded in the at-risk-of-poverty rates for different age groups among women and varied from 13 per cent for the 25-49 year old age group to 20 per cent for women aged under 18 and those aged 65 and over.

The employment rate for females aged between 15 and 64 increased from 34 per cent in 2003 to 37 per cent in 2008, as calculated from the Labour Force Survey.

Over the same time span, both the unemployment rate and the inactivity rate for females in the same age group registered decreases. The unemployment rate decreased from nine to seven per cent, while the inactivity rate decreased from 63 to 60 per cent.