Share of population living below national poverty lines in Malta
Malta: Share of population living below national poverty lines was 16.7% in 2021. ▲ Rising
Share of population living below national poverty lines in Malta, 2004–2021
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of population.
Analysis
Malta recorded 16.7% for share of population living below national poverty lines in 2021.
That represents a change of down 1.2% on the previous year and up 10.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living below national poverty lines in Malta peaked at 17.1% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 14.2%, in 2005.
Malta ranks 38th of 70 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 18 years of available data.
Share of population living below national poverty lines in Malta, year by year
| Year | % of population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 14.3% | — |
| 2005 | 14.2% | -0.7% |
| 2006 | 15.1% | +6.3% |
| 2007 | 15.3% | +1.3% |
| 2008 | 14.9% | -2.6% |
| 2009 | 15.5% | +4.0% |
| 2010 | 15.6% | +0.6% |
| 2011 | 15.1% | -3.2% |
| 2012 | 15.8% | +4.6% |
| 2013 | 15.8% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 16.6% | +5.1% |
| 2015 | 16.5% | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 16.7% | +1.2% |
| 2017 | 16.8% | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 17.1% | +1.8% |
| 2019 | 16.9% | -1.2% |
| 2020 | 16.9% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 16.7% | -1.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 14.9% | 14.2% | 15.5% | 6 |
| 2010s | 16.3% | 15.1% | 17.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.8% | 16.7% | 16.9% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Malta
More poverty & inequality data for Malta
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.1 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 4,880 kg per hectare (2017)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2017)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 1.23 % change on previous year (2017)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 32.81 (2009)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 32.8% (2009)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2009)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living below national poverty lines in Malta?
- Share of population living below national poverty lines in Malta was 16.7% in 2021, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living below national poverty lines recorded in Malta?
- The highest recorded value was 17.1% in 2018.
- What is the lowest share of population living below national poverty lines recorded in Malta?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.2% in 2005.
- How does Malta rank for share of population living below national poverty lines?
- Malta ranks 38th out of 70 countries with data for 2021.
- Is share of population living below national poverty lines rising or falling in Malta?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malta data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living below national poverty lines. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
National poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty lines. National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.