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4 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 5 NOVEMBER 2025 charged with involuntarily damag- tained. has taken place and CCTV footage NEWS CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 While non-EU workers gen- erally remain longer than EU nationals, both groups display high turnover rates. Moreover, around 10% of for- eign workers have left within three months of their first en- gagement, while 19% left with- in six months, the paper adds, highlighting the intensity of short-term turnover. "The median length of stay across 2002–2023 is estimated at three years, with some evi- dence of declining retention in recent years," the report said. Shorter stays, higher exits The Central Bank analysis up- dates a 2019 study and uses re- fined methodology to measure how long foreign employees ac- tually remain active in the Mal- tese labour force. After Malta joined the Euro- pean Union (EU) in 2004, the median length of stay dropped sharply, reaching just over one year by 2008. At that time the number of foreigners was much smaller and largely limited to the EU. Retention improved after 2013 as foreign worker numbers surged, peaking between 2018 and 2020, when the typical stay reached 3.5 years. This tem- porary stability was supported by government wage schemes during the pandemic. By 2021, retention fell dramatically to 2.5 years, recovering slightly to 3.1 years in 2023. "The effects of a transient la- bour market are now far more pronounced," the report ob- serves, noting that the num- ber of foreign workers leaving Malta's workforce each year— known as outflows—rose sharp- ly from 3,800 in 2012 to 20,000 in 2023, representing over 6% of total employment. Productivity challenges High turnover has tangible consequences for the economy. "High turnover undermines the benefits of 'learning by doing,' as foreign workers who acquire valuable local skills and expe- rience often leave before these can be fully translated into pro- ductivity gains for firms or the economy at large," the report warns. "If we think of Malta as a single organisation, this dynamic sug- gests that national productivity growth—driven by knowledge accumulation—is severely lim- ited and increasingly at risk, particularly as dependence on a transient foreign workforce continues to grow." Data also show a clear link be- tween duration of stay and skill growth: "Foreign workers who remain in Malta for longer pe- riods are more likely to expe- rience an upward shift in their skill level." EU workers more transient than non-EU nationals EU nationals are the most transient cohort, with a medi- an stay of just two years and a first-year exit rate 13 percent- age points higher than non-EU nationals. Non-EU workers av- erage 3.3 years, though their retention has also weakened: 25.5% left within their first year in 2023, and the proportion leaving within six months rose from 11.3% in 2019 to nearly 14% in 2023. The report also observes a broader migration pattern: "A significant number of non-EU workers migrating to Malta do not return to their country of origin at the point of departure, but instead move to other EU countries… Malta is sometimes utilised as a 'stepping stone' into Europe." Policy response: encouraging longer stays The study feeds directly in- to the 2025 Malta Labour Mi- gration Policy, which "marks a turning point. It identifies re- tention and stability as its fore- most guiding principle and sets out a series of reforms designed to lengthen the average stay of foreign workers." While noting several positive aspects in the migration pol- icy including extending TCN permit renewal periods to two years and introducing differen- tiated fees (lower for renewals) to incentivize longer tenure, policymakers must also address fundamental challenges such as social integration, housing af- fordability, and opportunities for career progression. "Sustaining economic growth and productivity in an ageing society requires not only at- tracting talent but also embed- ding it, for migration to be a cornerstone of Malta's prosper- ity," the report concludes. The updated study, The Length of Stay of Foreign Work- ers in Malta: An Update, was au- thored by Ian Borg, Manager of the Economic Projections and Conjunctural Analysis Office. The report acknowledges con- tributions from Noel Rapa, Dr. Aaron Grech, Alexander De- marco, and Prof. Edward Sciclu- na, but notes that the views ex- pressed are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Cen- tral Bank of Malta or any other institution. The latest data used for the analysis in the discussion paper spans from 2002 to 2023 which precedes the Malta La- bour Migration Policy launched in 2025. Average stay falls to three years as one-third of foreign workers leave within 12 months Metric Value / Insight Median length of stay 3.0 years (overall) Median stay – EU nationals 2.0 years Median stay – non-EU nationals 3.3 years First-year exit rate 31% of all foreign workers Exit within 3 months 10% Exit within 6 months 19% Annual outflows Rose from 3,800 in 2012 to 20,000 in 2023 (6% of total employment) Share of non-EU workers ~70% of the foreign workforce in 2023 (up from ~50% in 2017) Peak retention period 2018–2020 (median stay ~3.5 years, boosted by government wage schemes)

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