Malta’s economy is industrialized and mainly based on tourism, trade exporting, service branches and film industry. Malta is considered a high-income country by the World Bank and its strength is its advantageous location.
Tourism -main pillar of Malta’s economy
Malta’s economy is based on tourism and attracts over 1 million every year basically from European countries such as Germany, UK and Skandinavian countries. Tourism generates 35% of GDP .
Trade exporting
Malta’s second major industry is trade exporting machinery and transportation equipment, clothing and footwear while they import food, petroleum, machinery and semi-manufactured goods. Malta’s key trade partners are Italy, Germany and the UK. There is a strong manufacturing base for high value-added products like electronics and pharmaceuticals, and the manufacturing sector has more than 250 foreign-owned, export-oriented enterprises.
Service branches
The significance of the services sector in the Maltese economy has grown considerably in recent years. One of government’s key objectives remains to continue developing Malta into a centre for financial intermediation services with emphasis on insurance, administrative operations for investment services, software development, e-commerce, call centres, distance learning, international reservation systems and electronic exchanges.
Film industry in Malta
Film production in Malta is another growing industry despite stiff competition, with the Malta Film Commission providing support services to foreign film companies for the production of feature cinema (Gladiator, Troy, Munich and Count of Monte Cristo, amongst others, were shot in Malta over the last few years), commercials and television series.
At current stage formerly state-owned companies are being privatized – and the market liberalized. The Gross Domestic Product is $18,586 per capita as estimated in 2010.