Social Security contributions from non-Maltese people have increased six times in ten years
Figures presented in Parliament reveal that social security contributions from non-Maltese people have increased by more than 570% over the last ten years, rising from just over €30 million a year in 2012 to more than €202 million in 2021.
The figures were presented by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana in response to a parliamentary question by PN Deputy Ryan Callus.
This increase shows Malta’s growing dependence on the contributions of a growing foreign workforce, an economic model embraced by the government over the past years.
In total, non-Maltese workers have contributed over €1 billion to Malta’s economy since 2012.
This increase was not affected by the pandemic, with contributions increasing by just under €20 million between 2019 and 2020.
When he was speaking in 2019, the then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat warned that those who do not want foreigners in Malta are they turn their backs on economic growth and social benefits such as pensions.
Before becoming Minister of Finance, Caruana also had supported this economic modelwhere he claimed that the rapid influx of foreign workers was necessary to sustain Malta’s economic growth.
Caruana later admitted that this led to a pressure on the country’s infrastructure, education and healthcare.
These figures agree with the demographic changes that occurred during the same period.
The latest census figures published by the National Statistics Office show that Malta’s global population grew by almost a quarter between 2011 and 2021, an increase of 10,000 people per year.
This increase was driven by an increasing influx of non-Maltese people, with the proportion of non-Maltese residents in 2021 reaching 22.2% of the total population, a five-fold increase over 2011, when the figure was 4.9%.
JobsPlus also said that it is not Maltese make up a quarter of the country’s total workforceamounting to a total of 77,825 by the end of 2021.
Critics have cast doubt on this economic model, citing the high turnover of workers and often exploitative nature of their work as indications of the unsustainability of the model.
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