Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1524428
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 JULY 2024 NEWS MARIANNA CALLEJA mcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Maltese residents working on a full-time basis in 2022 num- bered 245,059, registering an in- crease of 8.6% over the previous year, the report shows. Data shows 81.6% of Maltese residents worked in the private sector, while 66% of Gozo and Comino residents are employed by the private sector. 17,702 Gozo and Comino residents have a fulltime job, an increase of 5.7% when compared to the previous year. The highest proportion of full- time employment in the Mal- ta region was registered in the wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcy- cles, transportation and storage, accommodation and food ser- vice activities, which accounted to 24.5% of the total. Full-time males in the Gozo and Comino region were pre- dominantly employed in the wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcy- cles, transportation and storage, accommodation and food ser- vice activities while females were mainly employed in the public administration and defence, compulsory social security, edu- cation, human health and social work activities. Population and households In 2022, Malta's population stood at 542,051, with persons aged between 30 and 39 ac- counting for the highest share of the population. The highest percentage in- creases were observed in the age cohorts of 30 to 39 and 40 to 49 years in the Malta region. In contrast, Gozo and Comino experienced the highest per- centage increase in the 30 to 39 cohort, followed by the 70 to 79 age group. The highest increases in the foreign population occurred within the population of 30-39 years of age in both Malta and Gozo. Natural population change was uninterruptedly positive year- on-year for the Malta region while Gozo and Comino region had a negative natural popula- tion growth rate for 2021 and 2022. In 2022, old age-dependency ratio in Malta stood at 27.1%, therefore there is approximate- ly four working-age adults for every person aged 65 years or more. 2,546 marriages were registered in Malta in 2022. This reflects an increase of 270 marriages when compared to 2021, with an in- crease of 271 marriages regis- tered in Malta region. There was one marriage less registered in the region of Gozo and Comino compared to the previous year. The most common household size for people living in the Mal- ta region was the two-person household, while in Gozo and Comino region was the one-per- son household in the NSO's study. The average household dispos- able income was highest in the South Eastern district at €42,855 and lowest in the Northern Har- bour district, €29,852. Persons at-risk-of-poverty rates for the regions of Mal- ta and Gozo and Comino were 16.8% and 15.1% respectively. Transport Licensed vehicles in Malta amounted to 438,567, with the largest proportion recorded in the Northern Harbour district in 2023, according to the re- port. In 2023, passenger cars accounted for 73.8% of total li- censed vehicles. Driving license holders amounted to 277,837, an increase of 0.4% over 2022. The Northern Harbour district registered the largest number (26.1%). Gozo and Comino dis- trict accounted for 9.6% of the total. In 2023, reported traffic ac- cident increased by 4.5% over 2022, with 35.8% of total acci- dents recorded in the Northern Harbour district Birkirkara was the locality with the highest rate of traffic acci- dents, with 1,084 cases, followed by Ħal Qormi and San Pawl Il- Baħar. Traffic-related contraventions issued by Police decreased by 11.1% from 2022, while those issued by Wardens decreased by 6.8%. Most of these contraventions were issued in the Northern Harbour district. San Pawl il-Baħar recorded the highest number of contraven- tions issued by Wardens, total- ling 17,872, whereas San Ġiljan had the highest count of con- traventions issued by Transport Malta, amounting to 4,953. In 2023, speed camera contra- ventions totalled 41,410. The camera which caught the most over-speeding vehicles was the one installed at the Naxxar Coast Road, totalling 7,457 con- traventions. CHURCH school teachers will have a separate agreement dis- cussed in the coming months, even though the state schools agreement already covers the majority of their resources and financial aspects. "This agreement with the gov- ernment for state schools auto- matically covers the financial aspects of church schools due to the state concordat. While both the Church and the state are accounted for, a separate agree- ment specifically for church schools needs to be made. This will be thoroughly discussed in the coming months," MUT president Marco Bonnici said on TVM's Xtra. Just last week, the government and the teachers' union final- ised the sectoral agreement for educators. Initially agreed upon in May, the terms were rene- gotiated after union members expressed dissatisfaction. The revised agreement garnered 92% support from union members last week. The previous five-year agreement expired two years ago, and educators will receive back pay for the increases in their allowances. However, the the union presi- dent explained that a very small percentage—about 5%—of this agreement is slightly different from the state agreement due to the operation of church schools. This means that the MUT and the government need to sit down together to discuss the way for- ward on the matter. Similar to the state schools' agreement, the church school agreement expired in 2022. The agreement signed between the Secretariat for Catholic Ed- ucation and the Malta Union of Teachers in 2018, included a better financial package for church school teachers, revised salary scales, allowances and work resources, better working conditions, structures, and work opportunities. Asked about the situation in in- dependent schools, Bonnici said the challenges here might be the hardest. "We have agreements with nearly every independent school in the country, and some of these agreements have already expired and need to be revised. We an- ticipate challenges, especially in the financial aspects, and we know we'll have to work hard to reach new agreements with in- dependent schools." Bonnici said a decision was tak- en between the unions and the schools that these agreements will not be revised before there is a complete sectoral agreement, "because you cannot revise with- out having a government struc- ture to build on." Church school teachers to have separate agreement discussed in coming months MUT president Marco Bonnici Maltese in full-time employment topped 245,000, up 8.6% on 2021 The highest increases in the foreign population occurred within the population of 30-39 years of age in both Malta and Gozo (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)