Malta Full-Time Workforce Tops 307,000, Rising 4.7% Year on Year

Q: Malta boasts equal job growth for both genders, but what hidden baseline gap still leaves female workers trailing far behind?

The equal growth rate masks a large starting gap: men still hold far more full-time jobs than women in Malta. By March 2026, registered full-time employment stood at 185,193 men versus 122,590 women. So even though both genders posted the same 4.7% annual increase, women were still trailing by about 62,600 full-time jobs. Put differently, women accounted for only about 40% of full-time registered employment, while men made up roughly 60%. That reflects a wider baseline participation gap. Additional labour-force data show female labour-force participation in Malta was about 55.8% in 2025, compared with 71.6% for men, and women represented only around 41.9% of the labour force. The female employment rate has improved strongly and is above the EU average, but it still remains below men’s. There is also a pay gap behind the headline jobs growth. Earlier data put average gross monthly pay at €1,416 for women against €1,829 for men, while Malta’s unadjusted gender pay gap was reported at 12.6%, slightly below the EU average but still significant. So the hidden issue is not that women are missing out on current job creation at the same rate, but that they are starting from a much smaller base in employment and earnings. Equal percentage growth does not erase that structural gap.

1 articles · Updated · lovinmalta.com · Aug 21

307,783 people were in full-time employment in Malta by March, marking a 4.7% increase from a year earlier and extending labour-market growth into 2026.
Men and women expanded at the same pace—both up 4.7% year on year—with 185,193 men and 122,590 women registered in full-time work.
The gains were not limited to one segment, with growth also recorded in primary part-time employment and across both the private and public sectors.