The Maltese economy : structure, development and problems

Abstract

The Maltese economy is one of the smallest in the would. In 1990, the Maltese GNP was approximately US $ 21.000 million and the Maltese population was approximately 350 thousand occupying a land area of around 320 square kilometers. In terms of GNP per capita, however. Malta is not on the low side by international comparisons. Although usually classified as a developing country, its average 1990 per capita GNP, ampunting to approximately US $ 6000, is higher than most third world countries, and the World Bank classifies the Maltese economy as an upper middle income one. As is well known, GNP per capita has a number of shortcomings as an indicator of development, and sometime other indicators are utilised for making development comparisons across nations. One such indicator is the percentage contributed by the manufacturing sector to GDP. In Malta this amounts to just under 30%, which compares well with the manufacturing percentage pertaining to developed countries. [excerpt]