Poor air quality hampers ‘excellent’ Maltese life

Malta climbed five places in a year in a UN quality of life report which highlighted major concerns about air quality in the country.

The island is considered to have ‘very high human development’, ranking 33rd in the UN Human Development Index – which measures wealth, life expectancy and education in 169 countries.

Topping the index is Norway (for the eighth year running), followed by Australia, New Zealand, the US and Ireland.

Malta has climbed 57 places since 1980 even if UN research analysts said an updated and more refined methodology made it difficult to compare the 2010 report with those from earlier years.

EU states occupy most of the top places of the 236-page report, with Malta trailing in 18th place among the 27-nation bloc.

Malta’s overall points increased from 0.813 to 0.815, while countries like the US jumped by 13 places in the space of a year.

The Maltese gave a 7.1 rating out of 10 to their overall life satisfaction, 83 per cent said they were satisfied with their personal health and 65 per cent are happy with their standard of living. More than 90 per cent said they were treated with respect in their country and gave the thumbs up to the social support network.

But the usual concerns about vehicle and construction pollution could not be more prevalent with Malta practically bottom of the table where air quality is concerned – just 41 per cent said they were satisfied, narrowly more optimistic than the Kuwaitis.

Likewise, just 65 per cent of Maltese are satisfied with water quality, in stark contrast with many of the other countries surveyed.

Malta also ranks poorly where secondary and tertiary education participation is concerned.

Expenditure on health per capita boosts Malta’s ranking as do the hospital beds per capita.

The figures of crime and safety differ wildly across the countries surveyed – from 1,837 (out of 100,000 people) saying they were the victims of robbery in Belgium, to 36 in Malta and 3 in Japan.

As expected, the report highlights the way Malta lags behind in statistics related to gender inequality. Female labour force participation in Malta is comparable to that of countries like Niger, Colombia and Algeria.

Zimbabwe languishes at the bottom of the overall rankings, together with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Burundi and Mozambique.

The report said that over the past 20 years many people around the world have experienced dramatic improvements in key aspects of their lives.

Malta stats:

Life expectancy: 80
Mean years of schooling: 9.9
Gross National Income per capita: $21,004
Affordable housing satisfaction: 41%
Education system satisfaction: 63%
Healthcare quality satisfaction: 69%
Air quality satisfaction: 41%
Carbon dioxide emissions: 6.3 tonnes
Perception of safety: 66%