Wage increases in Malta among lowest in EU

Wages in Malta were among the least to grow in the European Union, having increased by less than half the EU average during the first three months of 2023.

Data made available by Eurostat demonstrated that wages increased the most in Bulgaria (15.7 per cent), Romania (14.3 per cent) and Lithuania (13.2 per cent), while increased the least in Malta (2.4 per cent), Italy (1.7 per cent) and Finland (0.4 per cent).

Meanwhile, Ireland experienced a contraction of a whopping 6.5 per cent in wages. The report explained that wages in the country were impacted by the phasing out of the employment wage subsidy scheme which was introduced in 2022 to support wages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Across this EU, wages increased by five per cent, while among eurozone members, wages increased by 4.6 per cent.

Despite having one of the smallest wage increases in the eurozone, spokespersons for both the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, and also the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise have highlighted wage inflation as one of the most pressing issues for the private sector.

Malta’s rising wages were also highlighted in a recent forecast of the Central Bank of Malta, which indicated that, in part due to a tight labour market, the country’s wages between 2023 and 2025 are expected to grow faster than the rate of inflation would devalue them.