Updated 3.40pm - Added government statement
Malta's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) soared by 6.4 per cent in real terms in the second quarter of this year when compared to the same three months last year, data by the National Statistics office showed this morning.
That is well above the European average of 2.3 per cent.
GDP amounted to €2,657.7 million, an increase of €209.0.
The NSO explain that during the second quarter of 2017, Gross Value Added (GVA) increased by €193.9 million when compared to the same quarter last year. This was mainly generated by professional, scientific and technical activities; administrative and support service activities which increased by €64.1 million or 24.3 per cent; wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; transportation and storage; accommodation and food service activities which increased by €44.8 million or 9.6 per cent and arts, entertainment and recreation, repair of household goods and other services which increased by €30.0 million or 10.2 per cent. The slight drop registered in real estate activities is due to an enterprise reclassification.
This was mainly generated by professional, scientific and technical activities; administrative and support service activities which increased by €64.1 million or 24.3 per cent; wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; transportation and storage; accommodation and food service activities which increased by €44.8 million or 9.6 per cent and arts, entertainment and recreation, repair of household goods and other services which increased by €30.0 million or 10.2 per cent. The slight drop registered in real estate activities is due to an enterprise reclassification.
The NSO said total final consumption expenditure in nominal terms increased
by 1.4 per cent. This was mainly due to an increase of 5.1 per cent in household final consumption expenditure and a drop of 7.9 per cent in government final consumption expenditure when compared to the same quarter last year.
Two key factors explain growth -government
In a statement highlighting the 6.4 per cent figure, the government attributed the high rate to two key factors.
The first, the government said, was that workers had more money in their pockets. Wages rose by 6 per cent over the previous year, with workers' income reaching €603 million, or 38 per cent higher than under the previous administration.
Private consumption rose by 4.4 per cent on the back of these higher wages.
The second factor, the government noted, was that the private sector was booming, with profits €234 million higher than they were this time last year.
They noted that rising profits were spurring entrepreneurs to invest in their businesses, with investment reaching €253 million, or 42 per cent higher than under the previous administration.
Government's continued budget surplus, the government added, was helped by the fact that public sector expenditure was not growing as quickly as the economy was. While the government spent approximately 20 per cent of the country's GDP under the previous administration, that figure was now 16 per cent.
The financial services and online gaming sectors grew by 7.4 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, the government noted, giving the lie to the Opposition's talk of industry players "packing up and leaving the country".