Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1006805
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 JULY 2018 MALTA added more than an- other Gozo to the size of its population in just three years, figures out last week showed. By the end of 2017, Malta's population had grown by 36,000 when compared to 2014, according to data pub- lished by Eurostat, an EU agency. Growth during the three-year period stood at an impressive 8.2%. The recent spurt in popula- tion growth is fuelled by for- eign workers and their fami- lies, who are plugging a labour shortage caused by a thriving economy. The influx of foreigners is leaving its mark on the coun- try's social fabric. Only last week the Hamrun council dis- tributed leaflets on waste col- lection times in the locality that included instructions in Italian and Arabic, along with Maltese and English. It is a sign of the increased numbers of foreigners who are making Malta their home, necessitating changes at com- munity level. According to the National Statistics Office 11,738 EU nationals and 8,434 from non- EU countries were added to Malta's population last year. These were partially off-set by the departure of 2,508 EU na- tionals and 3,488 non-EU na- tionals. Eurostat recorded that the population at the end of 2017 stood at 475,701 and is fast ap- proaching the half-a-million mark. But while the figures of the past three years show impres- sive growth, they come on the back of a 6.2% increase in population between 2009 and 2014. An analysis of population fig- ures carried out by MaltaTo- day, using Eurostat data span- ning back to 1959, shows that Malta last experienced signifi- cant increases in population between 1984 and 1994. In 1984, Malta's population had grown by 5.3% over the preceding five years. By 1989, population growth rose to 6.2%, accelerating further to 6.8% by 1994. But in the 10 years that fol- lowed, population growth slowed down to an average of 3% every five years. EU membership in 2004 does not seem to have had an im- mediate impact. But statistics show that by 2012, the num- ber of EU nationals coming to work in Malta started picking up. A booming gaming sector at- tracted foreign workers, par- ticularly Swedes. But workers from recession-hit countries like Spain and Italy also start- ed to explore opportunities in Malta. The foreigner boom picked up in earnest around 2014 and has not abated since. When Maltese were encouraged to leave However, the long-term anal- ysis also gives a glimpse of a time when Malta's population had gone in reverse, aided by a government policy to help Maltese find new pastures abroad. The numbers show how in 1964, the year when Malta achieved independence, the population had decreased by 6,600 over the previous five years. The decline was steeper by 1969, when the population contracted by 18,100 in five years. This was a time when it was government policy to en- courage Maltese emigration, in the belief that the country was not able to provide enough work for its people. By 1974 the population de- cline was brought to a halt, as the country diversified its economy and attracted manu- facturing firms to open shop. The profound changes in the country's economic and social landscape during the 1970s ensured that the departure of the British forces from Malta by the end of the decade, had little impact on jobs. During this period, the popu- lation started to grow again. At the end of 1979, the year the British military base closed down, Malta's population had grown by 13,370, or 4.4%, in five years. In 1979, Malta's population stood at 315,262 and it only recovered to the same levels as two decades earlier by 1984. NEWS Nadur Xagħra Tal-Pietà Ħad-Dingli Mġarr Pembroke Marsaxlokk Mqabba Iklin Xewkija Gudja Ħal Lija Kalkara Santa Luċija Qrendi Senglea Ħal Għargħur Għajnsielem and Comino Mtarfa Vittoriosa Ħal Kirkop Ħal Safi Floriana Żebbuġ Ta' Sannat Qala Ta' Kerċem Xgħajra Ta' Xbiex Għarb Munxar Fontana San Lawrenz Għasri Mdina 3,792 3,685 3,599 3,507 3,487 3,348 3,275 3,168 3,090 3,035 2,924 2,910 2,909 2,674 2,635 2,609 2,604 2,555 2,366 2,321 2,088 1,861 1,801 1,787 1,725 1,698 1,616 1,419 1,109 995 865 588 380 213 Malta's population growth over the past eight years has been impressive but it is not unprecedented. Kurt Sansone trawls back through the years Growing, growing… and growing Malta, population 475,000 LOCALITY POPULATIONS 2016, SOURCE: NSO