Maltese economy grows by 7.2 pct in Q3

VALLETTA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Malta's gross domestic product (GDP) went up by 7.2 percent in real terms in the third quarter of this year, according to provisional figures published by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday.

GDP increased by 249.6 million euros (295 million U.S. dollars) when compared to the third quarter of 2016, reaching a maximum of 2.8 billion euros.

In a statement, the government said the increase was a national record for the third quarter of a year, and higher than the 5.6 percent growth predicted by the European Commission.

During the third quarter of 2017, consumption expenditure increased by 7.6 percent, mainly due to an increase of 18.1 percent in government final consumption and an increase of 4.4 percent in household expenditure.

As a result of the growing economy, compensation to employees across all sectors increased by 60.9 million euros, while businesses' gross operating surplus increased by 115.3 million euros. There was an increase of 73.5 million euros in net taxation on production and imports.

Gross fixed capital formation -- a measure of the level of investment -- increased by 1.5 percent in nominal prices but decreased by 2.4 percent in real terms.

Similarly, the export of goods and services increased by 3.0 percent in nominal terms and decreased by 1.3 percent in real terms, while imports of goods and services remained broadly stable in nominal terms and decreased by 4.4 percent in real terms.

The government said the country's strong economic performance could be attributed to an increase in wages, which in turn led to an increase in private consumption. Enditem