Malta has been labelled as “the biggest loser” in a Quality of Life Index that analysed living conditions in 187 different countries.
The island fell from 19th best for quality of life to 38th in The Expat Insider 2018 report.
According to the researchers, living in Malta was deemed as being “not as peaceful as it seems”.
“Many expats seem to feel increasingly affected by the political situation. Only five in nine expats in Malta (56 per cent) give the country’s political stability a positive rating, compared to a global average of 63 per cent,” the report authors said.
One UK expat reported that “corruption seems endemic at all levels of society” and an Irish respondent noted that “the horrendous corruption in every aspect of governance is appalling”.
The horrendous corruption in every aspect of governance is appalling
About one in six expats (18 per cent) said they were unhappy with what they perceived as “lack of peacefulness” on the island.
Information for this year’s report was compiled between February 15 and March 7 last year, with about 18,135 expats, representing 178 nationalities and living in 187 countries, taking part.
Researchers asked participants to rate up to 48 different factors concerning various aspects of life abroad on a scale of one to seven.
To draw up the final index, the authors broke down the data into six categories. Malta was ranked among the top 20 countries in just one category, the leisure options, where it was ranked 13th. Despite being the highest ranking posted by Malta when compared to the other five categories, the listing was below the previous year’s, when leisure options on the island were ranked eighth best.
Expats were also far less happy last year when compared to 2017, the ranking for personal happiness slipping to 29th place from seventh.
Expats’ views on the state of their health and well-being as well as safety and security changed significantly in a year. While in 2017 Malta ranked 21st in both categories, it dropped to 35th place for health and well-being and even lower, 38th, in terms of safety and security.
In a new category introduced this year, digital life, Malta was ranked in 42nd place.
Overall, Taiwan, Portugal and Spain were found to have the best quality of life, ranking at the top of the list. At the other end of the scale were Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.