Wages and prices › Malta
Malta: a wage buys 0.4% more than in 2019
Prices are 21.8% higher than in August 2019. Hourly wages rose 22.4% between the second quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2026, while prices rose 21.9% over the same quarters. Wages have more than caught up.
How much have prices risen since 2019?
Prices in Malta are 21.8% higher than in August 2019. What cost €100 then costs €121.78 now.
Price rise since August 2019, by what people buy. The red mark is all items, +21.8%.
- Food and soft drinks+42.0%
- Education+34.4%
- Leisure and culture+27.7%
- Housing and energy+26.4%
- Restaurants and hotels+26.1%
- Personal care and other+24.3%
- Health+20.6%
- Insurance and finance+18.0%
- Furniture and household goods+17.1%
- Transport+16.7%
- Clothing and shoes+12.3%
- Alcohol and tobacco+10.8%
- Phone and internet−18.2%
Have wages kept up?
Hourly wages rose 22.4% between the second quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2026. Prices rose 21.9% over the same quarters, so a wage buys 0.4% more than in 2019.
The hourly measure rose in 2020 because people worked fewer hours, not because pay rose.
How does Malta compare with its neighbours?
- European UnionPrices +30.0%, wages +30.0%, a wage buys +0.1%
- MaltaPrices +21.9%, wages +22.4%, a wage buys +0.4%
- ItalyPrices +23.6%, wages +17.1%, a wage buys −5.2%
- CyprusPrices +20.6%, wages +27.0%, a wage buys +5.3%
Work out your own inflation
Your prices depend on what you buy. Put in what you spend each month and see your own rate beside the official one: your inflation in Malta.
Sources and method
Prices: Eurostat, HICP (prc_hicp_minr), August 2026 against August 2019. Wages: Eurostat, labour cost index (lc_lci_r2_q), wages and salaries per hour worked, seasonally adjusted, the second quarter of 2026 against the second quarter of 2019. For the comparison, prices are the average of the same months. The figures are as published on 6 October 2026.