A total 16,278 migrants aged between 15 and 64 years were in the labour market last year, the National Statistics Office said.

It said Labour Force estimates indicated that almost 40 per cent of the migrant population had a tertiary level of education, as against 23.2 per cent of the non-migrant component.

Three-fourths of the surveyed active migrants had a beginners’ level of understanding of the Maltese language; however, the majority did not participate in a language course since they did not deem it to be necessary.

Employment rates among migrants resulted as slightly higher than the rates among non-migrants, with the rate for males exceeding that of females for both groups.

A slightly higher amount of migrants considered themselves to be over-qualified for the job they were engaged in.

Migrants include both Maltese-born citizens living in private households who migrated outside the country and were now back in Malta as well as persons living in private households who were not born in Malta but migrated to Malta recently.