The Maltese Islands: Economic Problems and Prospects for Industrial Development

Abstract

T 1-HE State of Malta (Fig. 1),' as compared with most of the other countries in and around the Mediterranean Sea, enjoys a high standard of living. The annual per capita income of the 328,000 inhabitants of the islanlds of Malta and Gozo ($390 in 19602) is exceeded only by that of Israel and Cyprus. It is 46 per cent higher than the average for the Mediterranean countries of Europe, more than twice as high as the average for the countries of the Near East and North Africa, and treble that of its near neighbor Libya, which is the lowest in the Mediterranean region.3 However, the relative prosperity of Malta is not always readily apparent, particularly in the rural areas. Poorly clothed children, small houses, and littered and malodorous streets are found in some of the smaller villages. In parts of the towns very high residential densities and narrow streets combine to present almost a slum appearance, which is not much relieved either by the bright paint of the traditional box balcony or by Malta's main building material-the easily cut, yellow, fine-grained Globigerina Limestone. Despite the visible signs of poverty, relatively high standards predominate both in the urban and in the rural areas. They are clearly apparent in the quality of the clothing worn by the crowds at soccer matches and by the throngs taking the air in the customary summer-evening promenade along Kingsway,