This country profile for Malta describes recent policy developments and current policy issues related to inclusive entrepreneurship. It also reports entrepreneurship and self-employment indicators for women, youth, seniors and immigrants relative to the average for the European Union.
The Missing Entrepreneurs 2023
Policies for Inclusive Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment
The business entry rate is among the highest in the European Union (EU). While regulatory barriers remain, efforts have been made to further strengthen the institutional framework, notably through investment and reforms as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan. Over the past decade, the self-employment rate increased from 13% in 2012 to 15% in 2022. This was above the EU average in 2022 (13%). Self-employment rates among seniors (50-64 years old) (20% vs. 15%) and immigrants (14% vs. 11%) were also above the EU average. However, the share of self-employed people who employ others decreased from 33% in 2012 to 27% in 2022, which was slightly below the EU average. Women were the least likely group to have employees (22% in 2022).
Several new entrepreneurship initiatives have been launched, including initiatives targeting immigrants, women, youth and people with disabilities. For example, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Reforms and Equality, within the Ministry for Home Affairs, Security, Reforms and Equality, launched the Gender Equality and Mainstreaming Strategy and Action Plan 2022-27. The plan is comprised of a range of strategic objectives, including actions on designing and implementing mentoring programmes for female entrepreneurs, implementing more financial incentives and calling for more gender disaggregated data. Youth entrepreneurship has also been a recent priority, including an update of the National Youth Policy (5th edition, 2021). The report “Towards 2030 - Reaching Out To, Working With, and Supporting Young People” by the Ministry for Inclusion and Social Wellbeing proposes actions to support entrepreneurship among youth, notably the need for entrepreneurship education, training, and upskilling.
There is a strong emphasis on supporting immigrant entrepreneurs who wish to start and scale their businesses in Malta. In 2022, Malta Enterprise launched the Start-up Residence Programme, which grants a three-year residence permit (extendable for an additional five years) to entrepreneurs who wish to start and/or grow their business in Malta. Additional benefits include immigration support for founders/co‑founders, core employees and immediate family members along with long-term business and family stability. Moreover, many entrepreneurship support schemes dedicated to immigrant entrepreneurs include tailored support, including the ability to complete administrative forms in either Maltese or English.
Note: In Panel a, the data for the EU median for SME lending excludes the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta and Romania. The EU median for the entrepreneurship skills indicator excludes: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia and Malta. Please see Chapter 10 for detailed notes on the figures.
Source: (Eurostat, 2023; OECD, 2023). Please see Chapter 10 for full citations.