The gender gap in Malta stood at 25.6 per cent in 2014, the highest in the EU, which is 17 times as high as that in the country with the lowest gap, Finland, whose gap was a mere 1.5 per cent.

The latest labour force survey published by the National Statistics Office for the end of 2016 showed male employment at 78.8 per cent and females at 52.9 per cent – a gender gap of 25.9 per cent.

Malta’s gender gap stood out, 8.6 percentage points ahead of second-placed Italy.

A report published today by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions on Living and Working Conditions in Europe shows that the gap in the EU was narrowing, as more women entered the labour market. The female employment rate was 59.6 per cent across the EU, and 70.1 per cent for males, giving a gender gap of 10.5 per cent.

Malta’s gender gap stood out, 8.6 percentage points ahead of second-placed Italy. There were four countries with a gender gap narrower than 5 per cent.

Eurofound calculated that the gender gap costs the EU €370 billion or 2.8 per cent of the EU GDP, calculated by taking the earnings foregone by women outside the workforce, the welfare contributions they would have paid if working, and the welfare benefits paid to them by the state. In Malta, this worked out to 8.2 per cent of GDP.