Valletta - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the relative size of the expatriate community? How would you describe overall morale among expatriates?
Considering Malta's size, the expat community is noticeable. There are expats from many countries, most notably from European, Asian and African countries. The diplomatic community is a good size and I spent time with people from the British, Austrian, and Australian embassies. - May 2023
A hand full of Americans and more Swedes (online gaming industry). If you are grumpy in Malta, something is wrong with you. - Oct 2018
Very large European expat presence. A ton of Brits, all ages (even retired since it's cheaper than the UK). Not many Americans. The entire AmCit community probably numbers around 2,000 I'm told. But, many are dual Maltese/Americans that just hold citizenship but never lived in America for long or were just born there and, therefore, aren't really "American" and most of them, strangely, live on the other island, Gozo. Outside the EU and Commonwealth (Brits, Aussies, etc), you don't meet many other foreigners as the Maltese do not make it easy for others to emigrate here. We often got questions about what we were doing in Malta (again, unusual to meet Americans living here). And, American tourists generally come off cruise ships as Malta is a little of the beaten path for American tourists. You say, "I'm with the American Embassy" and you get "Ohh, OK." Even the American businesses are just franchises owned by Maltese so they could barely be considered "American" companies. Just American brands. - Sep 2016
Less than 30 direct hires at the Embassy. Morale is not as high as you would think with a small post, but hardships generally make for closer ties, while the community is open and free here to explore. There is some negativity with those who expected a idyllic island atmosphere or that they were coming to Europe. This is really not Europe and you can get island fever. Luckily morale is on an upswing, with optimism for continued improvement. Malta is amazing if you take effort to enjoy it and don't look so much at the negatives. - Jan 2014
Medium. - Feb 2010
Malta itself is only 400,000 people. But there are tens of thousands of expats on the island depending on the time of year. - Feb 2010
Several hundred and growing. If you count British expats who return annually, it is much higher. - Jul 2009
