Reference is made to the article by Lino Debono (September 29) where it was stated that “...to my surprise when leafing through statistics, I noticed that the GDP of Gozo had declined from approximately 75-6 per cent of the Malta GDP to 71 per cent... instead of showing progress, the Gozo GDP regressed’.

Presumably, the correspondent was referring to the latest publication by the National Statistics Office entitled ‘Gozo in Figures 2015’.

Unfortunately, something must have been lost in translation because the NSO publication clearly points towards a convergence with the main island.

In fact, 2013, which is the latest year under consideration in the publication, shows that Gozo GDP increased nominally by 4.8 per cent, compared with 4.6 per cent registered in Malta.

As a consequence, the gap between Malta and Gozo regional GDP at market prices narrowed from 68.3 per cent to 69.2 per cent during 2013.

Further evidence to support this statement was provided by the figures about the average household disposable income, which shows that, on average, household income in Gozo increased by 6.3 per cent when compared with 4.9 per cent registered in Malta.