Malta's GDP increased by two per cent in 2009 when compared to the previous year but the average Maltese citizen remains 22 per cent "poorer" than the EU average, according to statistics published yesterday.

Based on preliminary estimates for last year, Malta's GDP per inhabitant expressed in an artificial reference currency, known as Purchasing Power Standard (PPS), stood at 78 per cent of the EU average in 2009, the same as Portugal, which joined the EU in 1986.

This means that for every €100 at the disposal of an average EU citizen, a Maltese citizen last year had €78. In 2008, Malta's GDP per inhabitant stood at €76.

The PPS artificial currency, used by the EU's statistical arm Eurostat to compare member states, eliminates price level differences between countries. Therefore, one PPS unit buys the same volume of goods and services in all countries.

Despite the increase in Malta's GDP, some of the member states which joined the EU at the same time as the island in 2004 obtained better results.

The "richest" country from the "new member states" is Cyprus, which in 2009 had a PPS per inhabitant of 98, followed by Slovenia (86) and the Czech Republic (80). All the other new member states had a lower GDP than Malta last year. The poorest EU citizens are the Bulgarians, with a PPS per inhabitant of just 41 last year.

In the EU, the Luxembourgers (268 PPS) and the Irish (131 PPS) were considered to be the richest citizens on average.

Malta is currently eligible for the highest amount of funding possible under EU rules since the decision on the seven-year budget was taken in 2005 when Malta's GDP was still lower than 75 per cent of the EU GDP average.

If the latest results were to be used for the next negotiations of the financial perspectives, which will cover the period 2014 to 2020, Malta will no longer remain among the highest net beneficiaries. However, the negotiations for the next EU financial package have not yet started and are not expected to be wrapped up before 2012.