Malta

Malta, an island nation in the Mediterranean almost 200 km south of Sicily, is actually comprised of a group of islands quite close to each other, two of which are inhabited: Malta, home to about 480,000 people in 2021, and Gozo, home to about 39,000 people in 2021.1 Though part of the European Union, it lies further south in the Mediterranean than the North African cities of Tunis and Algiers. The country’s primary language, Maltese, is a Semitic language derived from Arabic but written in Latin script.2  

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    Religious Affiliation
    Chart source: Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 2010
    Total Population
    432,089 1
    Urban
    94.6% 1
    Rural
    5.4% 1
    Immigrants as % of Population
    26.0% 2
    Homicides
    0.38 per 100,000 people (global median: 5.8) 3
    Level of Public Corruption
    51 (100 is very clean, 0 is highly corrupt) 4
    Fertility Rate
    1.20 live births per woman 5
    Under-Five Mortality Rate
    6.00 deaths per 1,000 live births 5
    Life Expectancy at Birth
    84 years 5
    Adult Literacy Rate
    93.31% 6
    Male Youth Literacy Rate (15-24 years)
    99% 5
    Female Youth Literacy Rate (15-24 years)
    100% 5
    Internet Users
    92% 6
    GDP per Capita
    US$29,737 5
    Population Living Below US$2.15 per Day
    0.3% 7
    Gender Gap Ranking based on economy, health, education, and politics
    70 (146 is the lowest ranked country; 1 is the highest ranked country) 8
    Religious Freedom: Government Restrictions Index (GRI)
    2 - Low
    Religious Freedom: Social Hostilities Index (SHI)
    0.8 - Low

    These statistics are derived from the Vatican's official publication, Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022). The numbers may differ from data reported by other sources on this site.

    Baptized Catholics
    408,000
    Baptized Catholics as % of Total Population
    85.19
    Baptisms per Year (Under age 7)
    2,513
    Baptisms per Year (Over age 7)
    20
    First Communions per Year
    2,228
    Confirmations per Year
    2,872
    Students Enrolled in Catholic Primary Schools
    7,617
    Students Enrolled in Catholic Secondary Schools
    8,258
    Students Enrolled in Catholic Higher Education
    184
    Church Marriages per Year
    379
    Church Marriages in Which Both Spouses are Catholics
    376
    Priests
    716
    Women Religious (Nuns & Sisters)
    797
    Catholics per Priest
    569
    Parishes
    85
    Homes for Aged, Handicapped, Invalids
    19