Population of Malta

Q: What is the population of Malta?

The resident population of Malta currently stands at 574,250 inhabitants according to the latest estimates from the National Statistics Office (2024), Malta’s statistics agency. This population is spread across 68 localities. In 2014, the archipelago had 438,805 inhabitants. Over the past decade, Malta’s population has therefore grown by almost 31 %, that is nearly 135,445 additional inhabitants. Malta is the least populated member state of the European Union: it is the only one of the 27 with fewer than 600,000 inhabitants. On a continental scale, Malta ranks seventh among the least populated countries, behind Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra and Iceland. If the micro-states (Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Liechtenstein and Andorra) are excluded, Iceland remains Europe’s least populated country, and Malta then comes in second place.

How many inhabitants does Malta have? What is its population density? Which are the most populated cities, and what part does immigration play? Here is all the data you need to know about the population of the Maltese archipelago, backed by official figures.

What is the population of Malta?

The resident population of Malta currently stands at 574,250 inhabitants according to the latest estimates from the National Statistics Office (2024), Malta’s statistics agency. This population is spread across 68 localities.

In 2014, the archipelago had 438,805 inhabitants. Over the past decade, Malta’s population has therefore grown by almost 31 %, that is nearly 135,445 additional inhabitants.

Malta is the least populated member state of the European Union: it is the only one of the 27 with fewer than 600,000 inhabitants. On a continental scale, Malta ranks seventh among the least populated countries, behind Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra and Iceland. If the micro-states (Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Liechtenstein and Andorra) are excluded, Iceland remains Europe’s least populated country, and Malta then comes in second place.

What is the population density of Malta?

Malta stands out for being a small state, home to a population of 574,250 inhabitants (2024), spread across a territory of just 316 km². Malta’s population density therefore sits at around 1,817 inhabitants per square kilometre.

Because of the small size of its territory, the archipelago has a high concentration of inhabitants. Malta is both the smallest country in the European Union by surface area and the EU member with the highest population density. Excluding micro-states, Malta also ranks among the most densely populated places in the world.

This record density within the EU should nevertheless be put into perspective: Monaco and Vatican City (micro-states with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants) remain significantly denser, and several major European cities, such as Paris, Berlin, Rome or Madrid, far exceed 2,000 inhabitants per km². For instance, Paris has more than 20,000 inhabitants per km², an order of magnitude beyond anything seen in Maltese towns.

Actual population and recorded population

The Maltese archipelago has several distinctive features: it is both a destination favoured by many foreigners and a highly popular tourist spot.

Many expatriates and immigrants living in Malta do not appear in the official census figures.

The archipelago also welcomes nearly 4,022,310 travellers every year (2025). The islands are therefore structurally very densely populated, even overcrowded during the summer season, a period when there is close to one resident for every tourist present on the archipelago.

What are the most populated cities in Malta?

Contrary to popular belief, Valletta, the capital of Malta, is not the most populated city on the island. Valletta has only 5,197 inhabitants (2024).

In 2024, tourist numbers aside, the three most populated cities in Malta, by number of inhabitants, are St Paul’s Bay (40,204), Birkirkara (29,482) and Mosta (25,496). Tas-Sliema (Sliema), with 22,730 inhabitants (2024), also remains one of the most densely populated towns on the island.

The least populated city in Malta is currently L-Imdina (Mdina), the former capital of Malta, with only 201 inhabitants recorded (2024).

Population in Malta and immigration

Immigration in Malta, or more broadly the population of foreign origin living in Malta, is a defining aspect of the island’s demographic change. Mass immigration, with nearly 100,000 new residents in 10 years, has been the driving force behind the sharp rise in population.

In 2024, out of Malta’s total population, 405,312 inhabitants are of Maltese origin (70.6 %) and 168,938 of foreign origin (29.4 %). Today, nearly one in three inhabitants in Malta is not of Maltese origin. In 2012, only 5.5% of Malta’s inhabitants were of foreign origin.

The four most represented foreign nationalities in Malta are Italians, British, Indians and Filipinos. This demographic shift is visible both in society and in the political debates that stir the island.