National reform programme 2008-2010 Malta - European Commission

Table 4 - Main Economic Indicators
Main Economic Indicators
Nominal GDP (€
millions)
Real GDP (€
millions)
Real GDP growth
(%)
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2007 2008
4388.3 4508.8 4799.8 5095.4 5415.0 Jan-Jun 2588.6 2745.8
3999.3 4044.3 4185.4 4317.1 4477.0 Jan-Jun 2142.4 2213.0
-0.3 1.1 3.5 3.1 3.7 Jan-Jun 3.5 3.3
GDP per capita in
PPS (compared to
EU27 100
benchmark)
78.6 77.4 77.9 77.2 77.3
Expenditure Components of GDP at constant 2000 prices (% change)
Private final
consumption
3.9 2.5 1.8 0.7 1.6 Jan-Jun 2.9 4.1
expenditure *1
General government
final consumption 3.3 0.5 -0.5 5.9 -0.1 Jan-Jun -0.9 12.3
expenditure
Gross fixed capital
formation
23.1 -2.8 8.6 4.2 4.1 Jan-Jun -3.0 -6.3
Exports of goods
and services
-0.6 -0.9 1.2 17.1 -4.1 Jan-Jun -3.3 -10.2
Imports of goods
and services
5.9 0.8 3.6 14.7 -3.8 Jan-Jun -7.4 -4.7
Current Account
Balance (% of GDP)
-3.1 -5.8 -8.7 -8.2 -5.5 Jan-Mar -3.0 -2.5
HICP Inflation (%) 1.9 2.7 2.5 2.6 0.7 August 0.5 3.7
Unemployment (%)
*2
7.6 7.2 7.2 7.3 6.5 Jan-Mar 7.3 6.0
Employment (%) 54.2 54.0 53.9 54.8 55.7 Jan-Mar 53.9 54.7
Unit Labour Cost
growth
5.0 0.5 -0.2 1.4 0.7 Jan-Jun 2.9 -0.1
General
Government Deficit
(% of GDP)
General
Government Debt
(% of GDP)
Sources: National Statistics Office, Eurostat
*1 Includes NPISH final consumption expenditure
*2 Based on LFS data
9.8 4.6 2.9 2.5 1.8
69.3 72.1 69.9 63.8 62.2
The external sector plays an important role in the context of the small and open economy of
the Maltese islands and in fact, Malta has recently been subject to a number of negative
supply side shocks. Particularly, a number of important challenges have materialised in the
form of major fluctuations in oil and food prices, as well as volatility in market conditions of a
major export category. Moreover, local industries are increasingly facing increased
competitive pressures from around the world.
During 2007, the current account deficit contracted to 5.5% of GDP, an improvement of 2.7
percentage points when compared to the previous year. Moreover, the current account
situation continued to improve over the course of this year. In fact, during the first quarter of
2008, the current account deficit as a percent of GDP reached 2.5%, marking an
improvement of 0.5 percentage points when compared to the same quarter in the previous
year.
Malta National Reform Programme 2008-2010 - 49 -