NUTS-3 MT002 · Malta
Population
41,2532025
GDP
€993M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
3.1%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
83.6%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
67.3 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
MT002 · EL621
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Gozo and Comino/Għawdex u Kemmuna (Opportunity 45). Runner-up: Ζάκυνθος (23). Contrarian pick: Ζάκυνθος — leads the set on Cost advantage (EU pctl 72).
Strengths
Growth momentum (93) · Labour market (85)
Red flags
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%)
Industrial base (EU bottom 15%)
#2Ζάκυνθος
Strengths
Cost advantage (72) · Growth momentum (58)
Red flags
Labour market (EU bottom 15%)
Talent & skills (EU bottom 15%)
Connectivity (EU bottom 15%)
Industrial base (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
Resilience (EU bottom 15%)
Long-run slide: down 13 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Why you might not pick Gozo and Comino/Għawdex u Kemmuna
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%); Industrial base (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Demographic outlook (EU pctl 2) — Ζάκυνθος may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
Gozo and Comino/Għawdex u Kemmuna leads under all four archetype mandates — the recommendation is weight-stable.
Phase-2 diligence checklist
- Site-level grid connection capacity and power pricing (beyond country-grain energy data)
- Local incentives, tax regimes and permitting timelines
- Workforce depth for your specific roles (the talent pillar is a proxy)
- Real-estate availability, rents and land — public pan-EU data stops at the Nordics
This is a mandate-neutral read. To weight the pillars to your thesis, run these regions through the Site Screener — it ranks all 1,211 regions under your weights and exports the full PDF. First-pass macro screening, not investment advice.
Composite intelligence · 0–100 EU-percentile scores
Opportunity Indexscale + growth + access + structure
44.6
23.1
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
54.8
8.8
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
71.5
29.8
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
43.5
1.5
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
66.0
6.5
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
92.8
58.4
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
7.3% 5y
7.7% 5y
Population
1.7% 5y
0.6% 5y
Unemployment rate
8.0% 5y
10.6% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€24,067
€23,473
Population density
613 /km²
100 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
All indicators · 86 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€920M
€822M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€13M
€29M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€67M
€47M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€48M
€29M
GVA — construction (F)
€80M
€24M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€231M
€453M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€21,200
€16,700
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
26,200 PPS
29,700 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€24,300
€24,100
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€4,280M
€798M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€228M
€15M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€9,681M
€1,396M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€157M
€107M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€62M
€5M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€313M
€158M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€216M
€110M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€877M
€852M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€60,364
€35,029
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€188M
€227M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
16,810
29,790
Self-employed persons
3,570
14,240
Employment in manufacturing (C)
1,320
960
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
82.6%
70.8%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
9.6%
30.9%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.1%
9.0%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
22,800
18,800
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
4,082
5,859
Enterprise births
696
500
Enterprise deaths
342
136
3-year enterprise survival rate
6.1%
3.3%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
0.5%
0.4%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
5.7%
—
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
0.8%
0.6%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
37.7%
21.6%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
47.7%
32.0%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
19.7%
1.7%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
22.1%
11.8%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
9.0%
4.9%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
97.8%
—
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
337,845
6,438,092
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
576 /1k
460 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
—
695 kt
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
—
0 km/1000km²
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
31
216
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
0
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
26,762
25,380
Population aged 65+
9,410
8,592
Population aged under 15
5,081
6,149
Median age of population
43.6 yrs
46.2 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
35.2%
33.9%
Crude rate of total population change
8.0 /1k
-6.5 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
8.5 /1k
-4.7 /1k
Crude birth rate
7.8 /1k
9.6 /1k
Crude death rate
8.3 /1k
11.5 /1k
Live births
319
388
Deaths
342
461
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
54.1%
58.1%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.21
1.71
Population density (persons per km²)
604 /km²
99 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
21,087
40,433
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
19.4%
35.7%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
83.0 yrs
81.1 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
16.9%
22.4%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
—
319 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
904 /100k
1,055 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
193 /100k
209 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
0.0 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
4.9 /100k
12.4 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
90.4 /100k
151 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
318 /100k
305 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
21 /M
129 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.91
0.56
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.56
0.42
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.85
0.49
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.45
0.32
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.93
0.24
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.116/kWh
€0.143/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
—
€0.039/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
99 m
72 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
1 days/yr
49 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
0 days/yr
0 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
4 days/yr
12 days/yr