Cost of living in Malta: housing, salaries, groceries, transport, and education

Malta has an average European level of prices on goods and services. However, living in Malta is cheaper than in Central and North European countries. For example, a single person in Germany needs about €1,700 for a month, while in Malta, this sum is about €1,450.

Malta residence permit program

Property in Malta is also quite cheap compared to Europe. For example, a square metre of an apartment in a city in Sweden costs €6,507, while in Malta, a square metre is around €3,475. German residents pay about €245 for basic utilities, while Maltese residents pay €100.

Vazgen V. ,

Obtained Malta citizenship with their family, an Immigrant Invest client

The monthly cost of living in Malta is not high, especially compared to Central Europe. Our friends who have residence permits in Austria visit us and get surprised at how cheap Malta is.

It is easy to adapt to living in Malta as it is enough to know English. With it, you don’t feel isolated.

Whichever status you choose for living in Malta — a residence permit, permanent residence or citizenship — one must rent or buy property according to the conditions of the programs and the citizenship law.

Depending on the status that you are interested in, you need to rent a property for a certain sum of money:

• to obtain a residence permit, one needs to rent a property for €9,600+ per year or €8,750+ per year if a property is located in the South of Malta or on Gozo island;

• for permanent residence, it is enough to rent a property that costs €12,000+ per year or €10,000+ per year if a property is located in the South of Malta or on Gozo island;

• to qualify for citizenship, one needs to rent a property for €16,000+ per year for at least five years.

Andrew S.,

Opened a real estate agency in Malta, an Immigrant Invest client

The most expensive renting is in tourist centres like Sliema and St Julian’s. A small one-room apartment costs €500—600 per month, and the price for more comfortable apartments starts at €1,000 per month.

I recommend moving a bit further from the city centre and renting an apartment or a house there. Malta is a small island, and everything is close to each other. You can get anywhere in 15 minutes. Therefore, you won’t miss anything and will be able to rent housing profitably.

For €900 a month, you can rent great spacious apartments with 3 bedrooms. The utility bills will be €80—€150.

The price per square metre of an apartment in the city centre of Malta is around €3,475. Outside the city centre, one might expect to pay €1,600.

The cost of the qualified property depends on the status one wants to obtain:

1. To participate in the residence permit program, an investor needs to buy a property that costs €275,000+ or €220,000+ if purchased in the South of Malta.

2. To get permanent residence, one needs to buy a property of €350,000+ or €300,000+ if purchased in the South of Malta.

3. The price of a property that qualifies for Malta citizenship starts at €700,000. Besides the housing, an investor must contribute to the NDSF, donate, and pay administrative, state, and Eligibility Test fees.

The period of owning the property is 5 years. After that, the investor can sell it and get a money return.

Examples of properties in Malta

Malta, Kalkara

€300,000 — €1,900,000

Apartments in a large-scale residential project on the first coastline

71 m² — 310 m²

1—3

1—3

Malta, Sliema

€920,000 — €1,300,000

Apartments in a new residential high-rise project near the sea

176 m² — 211 m²

2—3

2

Malta, Valletta

€1,510,000 — €3,370,000

Modern apartments not far from sea in Valetta

123 m² — 281 m²

1—3

1—3

Expenses on groceries in Malta depend on where to buy goods. In ordinary supermarkets, prices differ from those in other European countries.

Other shops in Malta, like food kiosks, are oriented toward tourists. Prices there are high. In ordinary supermarkets, products can cost 1.5—3 times cheaper.

The average prices of staple food are the following:

• Milk, 1 litre — €1.01;

• Drinking water 1,5 litre — €0.88;

• 12 eggs package — €2.58;

• Loaf of bread, 500 g — €1.15;

• Local cheese, 1 kg — €9.09;

• Chicken fillets, 1 kg — €7.68;

• Beef round, 1 kg — €14.11;

• Rice, 1 kg — €2.40;

• Apples, 1 kg — €2.52;

• Bananas, 1 kg — €1.85;

• Oranges, 1 kg — €2.41;

• Potatoes, 1 kg — €1.66;

• Tomatoes, 1 kg — €2.65;

• Onions, 1 kg — €1.89.

Lunch or dinner in a cafe usually costs around €10—15. The average bill depends on a cafe or restaurant, and Malta has a wide variety of those. For example, the Michelin Guide Malta gives information on 26 restaurants. Three of them have Michelin stars.

Mary D.,

Obtained Malta permanent residency, an Immigrant Invest client

Locals buy groceries in big supermarket chains such as Lidl or Carrefour. They have reasonable prices and quality products. Farmers sell their products in the food kiosks. I don’t recommend buying food there as everything is way more expensive and the quality is not very different from the products in supermarkets.

Malta’s transportation expenses are not high as the country consists of just a few islands. The biggest island is 27 km long and 15 km wide.

Maltese citizens use buses, ferries and taxis.

Buying a personal car in Malta is easier than moving it from another country. Moreover, car rentals are popular in the country. Rental of low-cost cars starts at €30 per day; for business-class vehicles, you will pay €50—80.

The price of petrol is €1.3 per litre. The standard tariff for a taxi in Malta is €2 per kilometre.

Prices of kindergartens and schools in Malta depend on the level of educational institutions:

• kindergartens cost €330—360 per month;

• studying in an international school costs €7,000 per year;

• studying in public schools is free.

Education in public schools is usually in Maltese, in addition to English lessons. Some parents choose private and international schools only to teach lessons in English.

Maltese high school diplomas are accepted in all countries of the European Union. Thus the child will have no problem applying to any university in Europe.

Studying at state universities is free for Maltese and EU citizens. The tuition fee for third-country nationals depends on the chosen university and study field. For example, getting a bachelor’s degree in law at the University of Malta costs €8,500 per academic year and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering costs €10,800 for the same period.

Maltese citizens and residents own a European Health Insurance Card and have free access to public doctors and hospitals.

Those who choose private healthcare can expect to pay around €20 for an appointment with a general practitioner and about €50—60 for a specialist.

Health insurance costs start at around €100 for a basic plan. The price for a more advanced plan might be up to €200.

The monthly average income in Malta is lower than the average income in the European Union. According to the Labour Force Survey, it is €1,850 per month, while the average income in the EU is €2,570.

However, other things attract investors, namely business opportunities. The most promising and lucrative companies in Malta work in the following fields:

• tourism — car and property rentals, organisation of excursions, hotel business;

• beauty and health — beauty salons, fitness clubs, massage salons;

• medical services — Maltese resorts are popular among Europeans who come to undergo health improvement courses;

• education — Malta has many private schools and branches of international and European universities; people also come to Malta to learn English;

• high technologies — owners of IT companies often choose Malta for living because of tax breaks and opportunities to quickly find clients and business partners.

Helen A.,

Obtained Malta citizenship in 2016, an Immigrant Invest client

You can create a high-demand business or get a job in a successful company. Then your income will be higher than the average income in Europe.

There are namely business opportunities. people from all over Europe come to Malta for holidays and medical treatment, and tax rates there are lower than in other EU countries. Therefore it is not a problem to achieve a constant income and a comfortable level of life in Malta.

For example, lawyers and economists working in big enterprises have good salaries. However, one needs to have a diploma from a European university.

The living expenses in Malta are higher than in the East European countries and lower than in the Central and North European states.

The most significant expense is the rent of housing. The cost of it might reach €1,500 per month. If you own housing, €2,700 per month will be enough for a family of four.

In general, living in Malta is cheaper than in the United States. One of the most expensive things is rent, which is almost 2 times higher in the United States.

Another point is healthcare: while American citizens need to pay a decent sum to get treatment in the US, Maltese citizens benefit from free public healthcare and health insurance.

Climate. Maltese summers are warm, and the average temperature during this period is +25—27°C. Winters are mild, and the temperature rarely goes below 0°C. Malta has around 3,000 sunny hours a year, which makes the country one of the sunniest places in Europe.

Safety. The crime rate in Malta is low. In 2020, Insurly, a French travel insurance company, rated most countries in the world on several criteria: frequency of natural disasters, quality of medicine, risk of terrorism, number of crimes, and number of road accidents. Malta ended up in 18th place, just after Germany and New Zealand.

Low taxes. Malta offers attractive tax rates. For example, VAT in Malta is lower than in most EU countries and is 18%, while it is around 23% in EU countries. The income tax rate depends on the salary of the taxpayer. For example, a married person doesn’t need to pay income tax if they earn less than €10,500.

There are also no taxes on gifts, inheritance and, in some cases, property.

Multilingual community. Many people from different regions move to Malta, so there is also a possibility to find locals from a certain country. Moreover, English is the official language in Malta, and almost everyone speaks it.