Malta’s younger generation has never been so plugged in to social media… and a substantial portion actually follow influencers on a regular basis.

A newly-published report by misco in collaboration with The Malta Chamber has found that a staggering 91% of internet users now own a smartphone, a sharp increase from 77% back in 2017.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the younger cohorts are more active on social media, with 100% of the 16 to 24-year-old group said they use social media platforms at least once a day. However, for people above the age of 55, daily social media usage was still at a very high 89%.

The “digital native” Gen-Z is clearly very online most of the time, with many of the social media platforms scoring over 90% daily usage across the board.

Instagram reigned supreme among Malta’s youth, with 90% of 16 to 24-year-old social media users being present on the platform. But beyond keeping up with current affairs, engaging with online ads and watching videos, an interestingly high number of respondents had influencers on their minds.

The report found that three in five of the islands’ youth (61%) actually keep up with influencers on Instagram. 19% actually used Instagram primarily for keeping up with influencers (compared to just 6% on Facebook), with the report even looking at the difference between Maltese and foreign influencers.

Two in five (38%) Instagram users follow foreign influencers, while one in three (33%) follow Maltese influencers.