Former Minister Says Malta Has Three Options: Have More Babies, Bring More Foreign Workers Or Shrink The Economy
Former Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo has called for a mature discussion on Malta’s low birth rate, warning that the country will have no other choice but to keep bringing in foreign workers or shrink its economy unless more babies are born.
Bartolo cited European statistics which show that Malta currently has the lowest birth rate in the EU (with an average of 1.14 births per woman) while its population is forecast to rise to 668,000 by 2050.
To put it in perspective, he noted that only 4,414 babies were born in Malta in 2020, around a third to foreign parents, compared to 10,281 babies who were born in 1950.
“You often hear people speaking about an invasion of foreign workers,” he said.
“A few thousands entered Malta irregularly but most of them came here because we don’t have enough Maltese people to fill up the jobs that are being created. We create 12,000 jobs every year while 4,000 people are born every year so where will the other 8,000 workers come from?”
“Our population is currently 443,803, out of whom 98,918 (21%) are foreigners. If our population increases to 668,000 by 2050, how many of these will be foreigners?”
“We must decide – if we complain about foreign workers without increasing our own birth rate, isn’t it natural that more foreigners will work here? Or do we want to shrink the economy?”
As for suggestions to use AI to mitigate the demand for human workers, Bartolo warned that even technologically advanced countries like Japan had to encourage more women and elderly people to enter the labour market.
“How can it be that we have never had a serious discussion about our birth rate?” he questioned. “Will the birth rate automatically decrease as a result of more women in the labour market? What can we do to increase our birth rate? Should more Maltese couples have children? If so, how can we help them?”
Recent figures show that the number of unemployed people seeking a job in Malta has dropped to a historic low of 963, while at the same time several businesses have been left short-staffed.
The Chamber of SMEs has reacted to the human resource crisis by urging the government to facilitate the visa acquisition process from Asian countries, which is currently facing a major gridlock.
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