35.4% of women aged over 65 were living alone in Malta in 2008, well below the average of 41.2% in the EU.
30.9% of women aged over 65 were living just with a partner (EU = 37.4%) and 33.7% were living with others, with or without a partner (EU = 21.4%).
In contrast, according to the survey, just 16.6 of men aged over 65 were living alone (EU = 19.7%). 52.3% were living just with a partner (down from an EU average of 60%) and 31.1 were living with others, with or without a partner (EU 20.4%).
The survey was part of an EU-wide study of living arrangements. The survey was coordinated by Eurostat, the EU's statistics arms, but the figures for Malta was inexplicably excluded from the data published in Brussels today.
A spokesman for the NSO said the figures for Malta had been submitted to Brussels, and the NSO has sought an explanation from Eurostat as to why they were not published.
The figures for Malta also show that nearly 85% of children aged under 18 lived with their two married parents. 0.7% lived with cohabiting parents and 13.8% - just above the EU average - lived with one parent. 0.6% lived without parents.
The NSO said the figures for children living with cohabiting parents or without parents were under-represented.
Eurostat said that in 2008, 74% of children in the EU27 lived with two married parents, while 14% lived in a single-parent household and 12% in a household with cohabiting parents.
In all Member States, the most common living arrangement for children aged less than 18 years was to live in a household with married parents. Just over half of children lived with two married parents in Estonia and Sweden (both 54%), while the proportion was around 90% in Greece (92%) and Cyprus (89%).
Children living in a household with cohabiting parents were most common in Sweden (27%), Estonia (23%), France (21%) and Slovenia (20%), while the highest shares of children living with one parent were found in Latvia and Ireland (both 23%), Estonia and the United Kingdom (both 21%).
More than half of women aged 65 and over were found to be living alone in the Nordic countries
When considering the differences in the living arrangements of men and women aged 65 and over, it should be kept in mind that this is influenced by factors such as higher life expectancy for women, Eurostat said.
Among men aged 65 and over in the EU27, the most common living arrangement was to live with their partner in a two-person household, while for women in this age group it was most common to live alone.
Persons living in collective households such as retirement homes were not included in the survey.
In 2008, 60% of men of this age group lived with their partner only, 20% lived alone and another 20% lived in a household with other persons, such as children or relatives, with or without their partner. The living arrangements of women aged 65 and over in the EU27 showed a different picture: 41% lived alone, 37% lived with their partner only and 21% lived with others, with or without their partner.
Living in a household with their partner only was the most common living arrangement for men aged 65 and over in all Member States, while for women this was the most common living arrangement only in Germany, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Portugal. In 2008 for both men and women aged 65 and over, the highest shares of those living with their partner only were registered in the Netherlands (75% for men and 47% for women), Germany (71% and 53%) and Sweden (71% and 47%).
Living alone was the most common living arrangement for women aged 65 and over in the majority of Member States. More than half of women of this age group lived alone in 2008 in Denmark (57%), Finland (52%) and Sweden (51%), while only in Denmark (31%), the United Kingdom (27%) and Sweden (26%) did more than one quarter of men live alone.
Living in a household with others, with or without their partner, was the most common living arrangement for women aged 65 and over in Latvia (46%), Bulgaria and Spain (both 44%) in 2008. The highest shares of men living with others were found in Spain (41%), Latvia (40%) and Greece (39%).