The National Statistics Office last week published a study entitled "Benchmarking Malta in Europe". It essentially provides a set of data across a very wide spectrum of issues comparing Malta to the other nine countries that acceded to the European Union on May 1 together with our country, and to the 15 states that were already members of the European Union. Admittedly comparisons may be odious, be they positive, be they negative. And one can explain away any set of data that does not compare well with the data of other countries. Similarly, one can create a big bubble around any data that compares well with data of other countries.

Therefore this benchmarking exercise may be fraught with pitfalls. However, I believe that it explains to a great extent the developments that we have had in our economy and may provide indications of the developments yet to come. It must be appreciated that this is not an index based on a set of economic or social variables: if this were the case, a country's assessment of its performance would change depending on what variable one chooses to analyse the performance. This is rather a set of data that depicts a picture in a crude form and it is up to anyone to draw conclusions from such data.

The data covers demography, education, information and communication technology, social cohesion, labour, prices, earnings, GDP, public finance, balance of payments, investment, and other issues. In its totality, the data does provide three interesting indications. Malta has an identikit that is more similar to that of the older member states of the EU in several respects than the other acceding countries.

Moreover Malta emerges as a country with a greater element of social cohesion than most of the acceding countries and even most of the older member states. However, from an economic viewpoint we are weaker than most of the older member states and even than some of the acceding states.

With regard to demography we have a life expectancy at birth for both men and women that is higher than the average for the new member states while being very close to that of the older member states. The fertility rate is falling as is the case in most of the new member states. In the older member states, it is rising and the average is now fairly close to that of Malta, even if it is moving in the opposite direction.

Worrying trends emerge in the education sector, even if from a national perspective the data is showing an improvement. The percentage of what are termed as "early school leavers" is way above that of any other country. This indicates that the number of young people who move into further education or vocational training at the end of their secondary education is much higher in other countries.

This means that on average we could have a lower skilled workforce than any other member state. This is further accentuated by the fact that a very low percentage of our population are graduates in science and technology.

The number of lifelong learners as a percentage of the total adult population is lower than that in most of the other acceding states and just half of that in the older member states. The implication that all this may have for the future in terms of our ability to attract higher value added jobs may be very negative. On the other hand, one may claim that it is so much easier in Malta for young persons to move into employment at the end of their compulsory education, that this is acting as a disincentive for students to carry on with their studies.

Another worrying feature is the share of the gross domestic product that is used by the private sector for investment. This stands at 14.2 per cent in Malta. Of all the member states, that is of both the older members and the newer members, only Sweden has a lower percentage than that of Malta. The implication is that unless an economy has a sustained level of investment, its economy would eventually slow down.

Malta's high level of trade integration of goods shows the extent of the openness of the economy. The average of imports and exports of goods represents 59 per cent of the gross domestic product. Of the acceding countries only the Slovak Republic and Estonia have a higher level of trade integration of goods, while among the older member states the average is 10.4 per cent. Even a country that has been described as very successful in attracting foreign direct investment, namely Ireland, has a level of trade integration of goods that is lower than that of Malta. With regard to trade integration of services the average for Malta is 22.6 per cent while that of the older member states is 3.5 per cent.

Among the more positive features is the level of internet access in households. This has now reached 31.3 per cent in Malta. This is far higher than the level obtained in the other acceding states and even higher than that obtained in a number of the older members.

With regard to social cohesion, there is no doubt that Malta compares very well. The percentage of the population described as "at-risk-of-poverty" is 21 per cent. This is lower than that in the older member states as well as most of the acceding states. Another positive indicator of social cohesion in Malta is the tax rate on low wage earners. This stands at 15.2 per cent compared to an average of 41.1 per cent in the acceding states and to 37.8 per cent in the older member states.

One final figure worth noting is the gross domestic product per employed person, after taking into account differences in price levels. The average for the older member states is set at a 100. That for Malta is 81.5 per cent, while the average for the acceding states is 52.2 per cent. This is indicative of the current positive performance of the Maltese economy.

Comparisons of economic and social variables tend to change over time as a result of developments. One would expect this to happen in a more marked way in the coming years as each member of the European Union adjusts to the rules of membership in the case of acceding states, and to the fact that there are now 25 member states and no longer 15. Moreover comparisons such as these are not the cause of any positive or negative trend but just a symptom. It is therefore important to appreciate that we need to address the economic fundamentals if we wish to see an improvement of our economy compared to other economies.