Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 27, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleMalta announces tax cuts for families with two or more children to boost its low birth rate. The policy, starting in 2026, aims to stimulate economic growth.
VALLETTA (Reuters) -Malta announced tax cuts for parents of two or more children on Monday, in a government bid to counter its demographic decline.
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana told parliament that the rock-bottom fertility rate of the Mediterranean island's native population was the "biggest challenge" facing the country.
"We need to encourage more families to have at least two children," Caruana said in a speech on Malta's 2026 budget.
A report by EU statistical agency Eurostat this year showed Malta had the bloc's lowest fertility rate in 2023, at 1.06.
Maltese Catholic Archbishop Charles Scicluna in September said that Malta faced "ethnic extinction".
Although densely populated, with around 1,704 people per square kilometre, almost a third of Malta's population is made up of foreign workers and their families.
Caruana said on Monday that parents of two or more children will, from 2026, each not pay income tax on the first 18,500 euros ($21,575) of their income.
That will rise to 30,000 euros each by 2028. The tax cuts will be retained until the children are 23 years old.
The scheme is similar to another announced in Poland in September which will remove tax on families with at least two children having an income of up to 32,973 euros.
Caruana said in February that Malta's native population is currently 406,000, of whom 24% are aged over 65.
In his budget speech, Caruana said Malta is forecast to have GDP growth of 4.1% in real terms in 2026, broadly similar to 2025. National debt was projected to be stable at 47.1% of GDP.
The deficit was projected to fall to 3.3% of GDP this year and 2.8% next year, he added. ($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna; Edited by Alexander Smith)
A tax cut is a reduction in the amount of tax that individuals or businesses are required to pay. This can stimulate economic growth by increasing disposable income.
The fertility rate is the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime. It is a key indicator of population growth and demographic trends.
A budget is a financial plan that outlines expected income and expenditures over a specific period, helping individuals or organizations manage their finances effectively.
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