Fewer migrant landings and the repatriation of asylum seekers saw the Maltese population slip last year for the first time in a decade.
According to statistics issued in Brussels yesterday, while Malta's population continued to grow naturally in 2009, with 4,000 newborns against 3,000 deaths, the number of migrants on the island dropped by 2,000 resulting in an overall decrease in the population of 1,000 when compared to end 2008.
On January 1, 2010, the number of people living on the island totalled 413,000. Twelve months before it stood at 414,000.
The statistics also show that, last year, Malta had one of the lowest death rates in the EU, registering 7.8 deaths for every 1,000 inhabitants. The average death rate in the EU in 2009 stood at 9.7 per 1,000. The only other EU member states which had a lower death rate than Malta were Ireland (6.6 per 1,000), Cyprus (6.7) and Luxembourg (7.3).
"Malta, last year, made a great effort to repatriate some of its migrants to the US and other EU member states. This has evidently produced the desired results, so much so that Malta's population decreased for the first time in the past years," a Eurostat official said yesterday.
"Another factor is that, since Italy and Libya are cooperating more on illegal immigration, the flow of illegal immigrants to Malta has practically stopped and this is also contributing towards a more manageable population growth," he said.
He pointed out that the low death rate would also have its repercussions if the trend continued in the future, as it was expected to. "This means the Maltese will live longer while fewer workers will be available to provide for their pensions," he explained.
The European Commission has been insisting on a reform of the pension system, stressing that it was not sustainable in the long term. The government has recognised the need for more reforms and has promised to put in place a second reform programme of its pension system by the end of this year.
On a general EU level, Eurostat reported that the population of the EU27 grew by 1.4 million in 2009, an annual growth rate of 2.7 per 1,000 inhabitants, due to a natural increase of 500,000 and net migration of 900,000.
The EU's population stood at 501.1 million on January 1, 2010. With a population of 81.8 million, Germany remained by far the largest EU member state followed by France (64.7 million), the UK (62 million) and Italy (60.3). On the other hand, Malta is the smallest member state (413,000) followed by Luxembourg (502,000) and Cyprus (798,000).