Development Co‑operation Profiles

Malta

This profile is no longer updated. Find the latest version here.

Introduction

Malta’s development co-operation is a cornerstone of its foreign policy. It is driven by the primary objective of eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development with the complementary aims of promoting democracy, good governance and greater respect for human rights to ensure the stability and development of developing countries. Its official development assistance (ODA) policy is governed by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Trade, and implemented in collaboration with various partners. Malta provides the majority of its ODA through bilateral channels. Malta’s total ODA (USD 50 million, preliminary data) increased in 2023, representing 0.26% of gross national income (GNI).1

Find the methodological notes behind the profile here.

Policy

Malta’s development co-operation is in line with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Trade’s 2006 Strategic Objectives (Objective 18), which is further defined in the 2013 Guiding Principles of Malta’s Foreign Policy. Since it acceded to the European Union (EU) in 2004, Malta has closely aligned with EU commitments and priorities, most notably the European Consensus on Development. Its latest Foreign Policy Strategy frames its development co-operation efforts around promoting democracy, human rights and sustainable development.

Malta’s Official Development and Humanitarian Assistance Policy (issued in 2021, setting priorities until 2030) outlines its implementation plan in partnership with multilateral organisations, non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, the private sector and academic institutions. The three overarching goals in support of the 2030 Agenda are reducing poverty and social inequality; equal rights for women and girls; and inclusive, equitable quality education and capacity building. Priority themes include climate change, peacebuilding and security, blue growth and blue economy, ocean governance, water resources policies and technologies, trade and investment, sustainable development, small states and small island states, and gender equality. Humanitarian assistance in tandem with development co-operation, predominantly administered through multilateral channels, remains a priority for Malta.

In line with Malta and Africa: A Strategy for Partnership 2020-2025, Africa is a priority region for Malta’s development co-operation as part of an integrated approach to promote development through multilateral and bilateral development and humanitarian assistance, diplomatic relationships, and trade and investment in line with Africa’s ambitions to realise its Agenda 2063.

ODA allocation overview

Malta provided USD 50 million (preliminary data) of ODA in 2023 (USD 47.9 million in constant terms), representing 0.26% of GNI. This was an increase of 6.1% in real terms in volume and a decrease in the share of GNI from 2022. Malta is not in line with its EU-level commitment of 0.33% ODA/GNI and collective commitment of 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio by 2030. Total ODA on a grant-equivalent basis has the same value as net ODA under the cash-flow methodology used in the past, as Malta provides only grants.

 

Note: Data on ODA volumes (figure above) are in constant 2022 prices. Data for 2023 are preliminary. See the methodological notes for further details.

Compare

 

Compare

Performance against commitments and DAC recommendations

Description	Target	2021	2022	2023, preliminary
ODA as a share of GNI (%)	0.33	0.32	0.28	0.26
Total ODA to least developed countries as a share of GNI (%)	0.15-0.20	0.02	0.01
Grant element of total ODA (%)	>86	100	100

Note: This table only includes information about ODA data-related DAC recommendations. ODA: official development assistance; GNI: gross national income; DAC: Development Assistance Committee.

Malta provided most of its ODA bilaterally in 2022. Gross bilateral ODA was 89.5% of total ODA disbursements. A share of 4.5% of gross bilateral ODA was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions). Malta allocated 10.5% of total ODA as core contributions to multilateral organisations.

 

Compare

ODA for Ukraine

In 2023, Malta provided USD 290 thousand of net bilateral ODA to Ukraine to respond to the impacts of Russia's war of aggression, a 3.8% decrease from 2022 in real terms. USD 190 thousand of the amount was humanitarian assistance in 2023, a 58.3% increase from 2022.

 

Note: The amount reported in 2023 is an estimate, based on preliminary figures reported to the OECD and published in April 2024.

Compare

ODA to and through the multilateral system

In 2022, Malta provided USD 6.6 million of gross ODA to the multilateral system, an increase of 13.6% in real terms from 2021. Of this, USD 4.7 million was core multilateral ODA, while USD 1.8 million were non-core contributions earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. All these earmarked contributions were programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific-purpose programmes and funds).

 

Compare

Ninety per cent of Malta's total contributions to multilateral organisations in 2022 were allocated to the World Bank, EU Institutions, and other multilateral organisations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

 

Compare

The UN system received 10.2% of Malta's multilateral contributions, of which USD 0.5 million (68.9%) represented earmarked contributions. Out of a total volume of USD 0.7 million to the UN system, the top three UN recipients of Malta's support (core and earmarked contributions) were UNHCR (USD 184 thousand), UNOCHA (USD 105 thousand) and UNRWA (USD 84 thousand).

 

Compare

See the section on Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system. Learn more about multilateral development finance.

Bilateral ODA

In 2022, Malta's bilateral spending declined compared to the previous year. It provided USD 40.5 million of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations). This represented a decrease of 14.3% in real terms from 2021c.

In 2022, country programmable aid was 7.6% of Malta's gross bilateral ODA, compared to a non-DAC country average of 47%. In-donor refugee costs were USD 35.8 million in 2022, a decrease of 7.5% in real terms over 2021, and represented 88.6% of Malta's total gross ODA.

 

Note: NGO: non-governmental organisation.

Compare

In 2022, Malta channelled their bilateral ODA mainly through the public sector and multilateral organisations to a lesser extent.

 

Compare

Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA

In 2022, Malta's bilateral ODA was primarily focused on Africa. USD 2.7 million was allocated to Africa and USD 462 thousand to ODA-eligible countries in Europe (of which 62.5% for Ukraine), accounting respectively for 6.6% and 1.1% of gross bilateral ODA. USD 251 thousand was allocated to the Middle East. Africa was also the main regional recipient of Malta's earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations.

Bilateral ODA by recipient country

Compare

In 2022, 8.1% of gross bilateral ODA went to Malta's top 10 recipients. These recipients are mostly spread across the South of Sahara Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The share of gross bilateral ODA not allocated by country was 91.2%, of which 97.1% consisted of expenditures for processing and hosting refugees in provider countries.

 

Compare

 

Compare

In 2022, Malta allocated 0.01% of its GNI to the least developed countries (LDCs). Malta allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (4.9%) to lower middle-income countries (LMICs) in 2022, noting that 91.2% was unallocated by income group.

 

Note: LDC: least developed country; LIC: low-income country; LMIC: lower middle-income country; UMIC: upper middle-income country; MADCTs: more advanced developing countries and territories.

Compare

Fragile contexts

Support to fragile contexts reached USD 2.9 million in 2022, representing 7.2% of Malta's gross bilateral ODA. Seven per cent of this ODA was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance, increasing from 4.8% in 2021, while 4.8% was allocated to peace, decreasing from 50.4% in 2021. Learn more about support to fragile contexts on the States of Fragility platform.

 

Note: HDP: humanitarian-development-peace. The chart represents only gross bilateral official development assistance that is allocated by country.

Compare

Sectors

In 2022, USD 35.8 million (89.2%) of Malta's bilateral ODA was spent to aid refugees in donor countries (under other sectors). Besides, Malta committed USD 2.5 million (6.1%) of its bilateral ODA to social infrastructure and services, mostly focusing on health and population (USD 1.7 million) and support to government and civil society (USD 630 thousand). Malta's efforts for health and population in 2022 accounted for 4.1% of gross bilateral ODA, representing a decrease of 4% from 2019 in real terms. USD 940 thousand (2.3%) of Malta's bilateral ODA was provided as debt relief. Humanitarian assistance amounted to USD 364 thousand.

 

Compare

ODA for COVID-19

In 2022, Malta disbursed USD 1.5 million in ODA for the COVID-19 response, down from USD 2.8 million in 2021. In 2022, 97% (USD 1.5 million) of this ODA was provided in the form of donations of vaccine doses to developing countries in 2022, down 43.3% from 2021.

Total official support for sustainable development

Total official support for sustainable development is an international statistical standard that monitors all official and officially supported resources for financing the SDGs in developing countries, as well as for addressing global challenges. It provides a broader measure of development finance with the objective of increasing transparency and accountability of all external support that developing countries receive.

In 2022, activities reported by Malta as TOSSD totalled USD 79.6 million, up from USD 53.5 million in 2021, and Malta's TOSSD activities in support of sustainable development mostly targeted SDG 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, and SDG 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Activity-level data on TOSSD by recipient are available at: https://tossd.online.

Institutional set-up

ODA falls within the remit of the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade. The ministry’s Directorate-General for Global Issues, Economic Affairs and Development administers Malta’s Official Development and Humanitarian Assistance Policy (from 2021, setting ODA priorities until 2030).

 

Compare

Civil society organisations active in development co-operation, humanitarian assistance and global citizenship education co-ordinate under SKOP – Malta’s National Platform of Development Non-Governmental Organisations.

Additional resources

Maltese Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Trade: https://foreignandeu.gov.mt

Malta’s Official Development and Humanitarian Assistance Policy (2021): https://foreign.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ODA-Implementation-Plan-revised-2021.pdf

Malta and Africa. A Strategy for Partnership 2020-2025: https://foreign.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Africa-Strategy-2020-2025.pdf

SKOP – Malta’s National Platform of Development Non-Governmental Organisations: https://skop.mt

Malta is in the process of applying for OECD membership and has been an Invitee to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) since 2023.

Malta has been reporting to the OECD since 2009, and reporting activity-level data since 2022 on 2021 data.

The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable aid, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.

Note

← 1.  DAC members adopted the grant-equivalent methodology starting from their reporting of 2018 data as a more accurate way to count the donor effort in development loans. See the methodological notes for further details.