The population at the end of last year stood at 425,384, up
by one per cent when compared to 2012, the National Statistics Office said.

It said the Maltese population accounted for 94.1 per cent of the total population.

People under 18 made up 17.8 per cent of the total, while 17.9 per cent were aged 65 and over. Of these, 2,114 persons - 1,500 females and 614 males - were over 89.

The population increase was mainly due to net migration.

Live births decreased by 2.5 per cent over the previous year. In 2013, 129 babies, or 3.1 per cent, were born to teenage mothers. Almost two-thirds of babies were born to mothers aged between 25 and 34.

There were 1,039 births outside marriage, of which 10.8 per cent were born to teenage mothers, while 30.6 per cent were born to mothers aged between 20 and 24.

Of the 3,236 deaths registered during the year, 66.5 per cent were persons over 74.

A decrease of 245 registered marriages was observed - 207 in Malta and 38 in
Gozo. Civil marriages accounted for 46.5 per cent of the total in 2013, an increase of 2.5 per cent over the previous year.