Malta’s economy grew stronger in 2010 as it continued to creep closer to the EU average in terms of GDP per capita, according to new data published by Eurostat.

The EU’s statistics arm said that last year Malta’s GDP per capita reached 83 per cent of the EU average, two percentage points above 2009 and four percentage points higher over a three year period. The EU average is set at 100 per cent.

Malta’s progress reflects an economy growing at a faster pace than the EU as a whole.

The richest member state in the EU last year was again Luxembourg, with a GDP per capita of 283 per cent, more than three times higher than Malta’s.

However, Luxembourg’s economy is influenced by thousands of French and German workers travelling daily to the Grand Duchy to make their living. This boosts the second smallest member state’s economy by a high degree. The poorest member states in 2010 were the latest entrants, Romania and Bulgaria, with a GDP per capita of just 45 and 43 per cent respectively, half Malta’s.

The EU’s calculations are expressed in Purchasing Power Standard (PPS), an artificial currency unit that eliminates price level differences between countries.

In Spain, Italy and Cyprus, GDP per capita was around the EU average, while in France it was around five per cent above average. Germany, Belgium, Finland and the UK were between 10 and 20 per cent above the average.