Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1540302
A year ago, concern about foreigners working in Malta was the country's top worry. Roll forward 12 months and while concern about foreign workers has dropped by 12.5 points, concern about overpopulation has in- creased by a staggering 14.2 points. The October MaltaToday survey on concerns puts overpopulation as the top issue of concern with 22.3%, followed closely by traffic at 20.3%. The shift from 'foreign workers' to 'overpopulation' as the top concern suggests that the Maltese are now more concerned about the impact of a larger population on infrastruc- ture, the environment and public services than about the sheer pres- ence of foreigners in Malta. With foreign workers contributing to the rapid increase in population, the shift in language used by re- spondents to describe their topmost concern could also suggest fatigue with tourism that exacerbates the situation. This result represents the third shift in how the Maltese articulate their concern about the increased number of foreigners living and working in Malta. Before 2019, ir- regular migration was the specific focus of popular concerns related to the presence of foreigners. This sub- sequently shifted to concern about foreign workers following a drop in boat arrivals. Now, this concern ap- pears to be more directed towards population growth. The MaltaToday survey polled 741 respondents and has a margin of er- ror of +/-3.6 percentage points. Re- spondents were asked to state the greatest problem facing the country and they could only provide one un- prompted answer. But despite this shift from concern about foreigners taking jobs in Mal- ta to a more generic concern about population growth, other pressures still rank high on the list of national concerns, as was the case last year. Some of the main concerns stem from Malta's economic growth model—apart from overpopulation, the survey lists traffic (20.3%), for- eign workers (9.9%), construction (6.9%) and the environment (5.8%). Inflation ranks third with 13.4%, indicating that it remains a problem for a significant part of the popu- lation. Corruption ranks fifth with 8.2% identifying it as a main con- mt SURVEY maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 OCTOBER 2025 7 Overpopulation is top concern JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt >> CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE THE ALL-NEW B10 STARTING FROM €20,900* (*2025 GOVERNMENT GRANTS AND SCRAPPAGE SCHEME INCLUDED. TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY). Maltese are now more likely to mention population increase as a concern rather than foreign workers, in what could be an indication that they are more worried about the impact of rising numbers of inhabitants on infrastructure than on the sheer presence of foreigners