Not really surprising with the high cost of everything and the abysmal pay. Then there is the traffic and the constant construction. It is a different country to what it was when I arrived in the early 2000’s.
I wouldn’t trust that report. Just in 2015 they ranked Malta as 3rd best and now they rank it in the worst 10, that’s how reliable it is.
Expats please keep coming and spending here. Pretty please. Don’t let our housing market collapse.
/s
Can’t blame them. looks like they’re finally waking up.
Worth nothing the report basis this on direct expat feedback from people living within the countries.
This methodology isn’t a reliable way of comparing countries as an expat living in South Africa giving a 1/10 safety rating tells a very different story from an expat in Malta giving a 1/10 safety rating. One may fear armed break ins, the other fears confrontation in Paceville. There’s no direct link to be made.
What it should tell you is that the outlook has significantly worsened for expats living in Malta in a drastic manner.
It would be cool if it wasn’t for all the fucking cars.
I didn’t live in Malta, just visited, but in my experience, the people were friendly and kind, especially outside the tourist areas, the environment… OK, it’s not Alaskan wilderness, the population density is high, there is industry and the climate is dry. I can’t tell about the income and healthcare, but I heard terrible stories from half of the EU countries and even had horrible experiences, I would take my chances with the worst hospital in Malta rather than go to an average Scottish hospital again. Malta felt rather safe and with a small car, the transportation was easy. For the urban area, busses worked fine. Very good roads. Seriously.
To be honest, just in the EU I would easily find many larger regions that would be worse not just in one, but in every single aspect to live in. Even in countries richer than Malta.
We are moving out of Malta later this year and never coming back. Will be such a relief. People on this island has become vile and toxic.
Fucking hilarious to me still that when white people immigrate they’re called expats but when brown people do it they’re called immigrants.
Hard to take that list seriously if it includes Mexico in a top position. Even in the expat bubble… nothing compares to not living in the constant fear that living in Mexico means.
I suppose if the daily news in Mexico don’t bother you (or prefer not to know and pretend you are exempt of the constant risk) then it’s perfectly normal to live in a country where it’s normalized that people are murdered and tossed by the bulk and then one can say that it’s preferable to live in Mexico over Malta.
Sure, if you earn in USD or EUR or GBP, your money can come a long way…
I cam here One year ago and was one of the favorites lol
My Son and his Fiancée have lived in Malta for more than 2 years and the only thing they don’t like is the traffic. I love visiting, it’s a fascinating country and I love the architecture and would happily live there.
Worst health system I have ever experienced. Every time I have to wait 4-5 hours for a 10 minute appointment with a doctor in the health centre. Procedural mistakes are made constantly and the personnel appears stressed out and overworked.
It’s not rocket science. Even if I exclude the lack of green spaces, the noise is too much.
I’ve never been anywhere with no relief from construction noise. It’s not viable for mental health to always hear hammering and banging or industrial machines digging.
The fact that this is normalized is so fucked up. Why would anybody be happy paying city center prices for rent when you have no quality of life at all.
You’re paying to live in central Sliema like it’s Monaco. Trash on the street, noise everywhere. It’s awful.
Ouch, spent a year there. Enjoyed my time but glad to be back home tbh. Definitely over populated but the quiet areas can be very chill.
i was born and raised here and they’re absolutely right, quality of life is shit here
Actually as an expat I don’t agree, I really like Malta. I have been here for three years and so far I haven’t had any really bad experiences, sometimes something inconvenient happens but nothing mayor.
Friendly and kind people, nice weather, high personal safety, plenty of jobs to go around. My quality of life has improved enormously since I came here. I came to Malta three years ago, alone and with little money but so far I can say Malta has been an excellent decision and I love it. Hopefully I will be able to stay here permanently, that would be a really nice thing.
As an expat the worst of all these things like corruption (got that everywhere), air pollution, traffic (also everywhere) , the worst thing for me and my family is a) the blatant racism – never in my life have i been in a place, where locals would go out of their way to point out you are a foreigner and as such imply you can’t possibly understand or have input in local matters. And b) the lack of accessible sports facilities – while there are some, majority are booked by various sports teams and clubs, leaving nothing open for the general public.
People don’t want to talk to foreigners anymore, they treat you with huge indifference unless there is something they can gain from you. And its impossible to make friendships with people from Malta (with some exceptions and Gozo as this is an almost different kind), not the mention ”go to your country” attitude that was (and still is) a huge problem before the pandemic.
I came here directly from Cyprus (I am not a national of Cyprus) where I thought I had found people generally closed and narrow-minded, and to my huge surprise, I miss Cyprus everyday now, and find people from there just the opposite what I thought it was (compared to Maltese). But yeah, I lived in Nicosia and expats there generally suffered and wanted to run away (until they do and then they all want come back). I have friends who moved to Cyprus from Malta and are of the same opinion. The climate is the same, but you will eventually suffocate in Malta and no-one will give you oxygen in need, plus you need to fight at every corner for everything. Not to mention Cyprus is able to sustain itself, where Malta can only feed 25% of its population only (is 30 times smaller of course).
The Maltese island is not so bad, everywhere is close, but you drive for long due to traffic or small streets with thousands of corners and so 100km around the island takes 4 hours behind the wheel. There are a few good restaurants, but generally it’s crap for tourists or Michelin star restaurant not worth a penny. In Cyprus ( I lived there before so I naturally compare it to Malta) you have souvlaki take away everywhere, greek restaurants (although Manakis in Buggiba was very good, compared to the one in Balluta), and people who actually argue in about the best souvlaki place of their choice! Have you ever heard Maltese people arguing where is the best rabit (that is not even native to the island…)?
It’s a pity, I tried many times with people here (my wife warned me several times), spent a lot of my private time to help a lot of people, but I gave up and don’t want to have anything in common with them. Maybe one day, there will be one person who really cares and wants to contribute to the friendship, but at the moment I don’t want to spend any minute more here or with them.
18 comments
Not really surprising with the high cost of everything and the abysmal pay. Then there is the traffic and the constant construction. It is a different country to what it was when I arrived in the early 2000’s.
I wouldn’t trust that report. Just in 2015 they ranked Malta as 3rd best and now they rank it in the worst 10, that’s how reliable it is.
Expats please keep coming and spending here. Pretty please. Don’t let our housing market collapse.
/s
Can’t blame them. looks like they’re finally waking up.
Worth nothing the report basis this on direct expat feedback from people living within the countries.
This methodology isn’t a reliable way of comparing countries as an expat living in South Africa giving a 1/10 safety rating tells a very different story from an expat in Malta giving a 1/10 safety rating. One may fear armed break ins, the other fears confrontation in Paceville. There’s no direct link to be made.
What it should tell you is that the outlook has significantly worsened for expats living in Malta in a drastic manner.
It would be cool if it wasn’t for all the fucking cars.
I didn’t live in Malta, just visited, but in my experience, the people were friendly and kind, especially outside the tourist areas, the environment… OK, it’s not Alaskan wilderness, the population density is high, there is industry and the climate is dry. I can’t tell about the income and healthcare, but I heard terrible stories from half of the EU countries and even had horrible experiences, I would take my chances with the worst hospital in Malta rather than go to an average Scottish hospital again. Malta felt rather safe and with a small car, the transportation was easy. For the urban area, busses worked fine. Very good roads. Seriously.
To be honest, just in the EU I would easily find many larger regions that would be worse not just in one, but in every single aspect to live in. Even in countries richer than Malta.
We are moving out of Malta later this year and never coming back. Will be such a relief. People on this island has become vile and toxic.
Fucking hilarious to me still that when white people immigrate they’re called expats but when brown people do it they’re called immigrants.
Hard to take that list seriously if it includes Mexico in a top position. Even in the expat bubble… nothing compares to not living in the constant fear that living in Mexico means.
I suppose if the daily news in Mexico don’t bother you (or prefer not to know and pretend you are exempt of the constant risk) then it’s perfectly normal to live in a country where it’s normalized that people are murdered and tossed by the bulk and then one can say that it’s preferable to live in Mexico over Malta.
Sure, if you earn in USD or EUR or GBP, your money can come a long way…
I cam here One year ago and was one of the favorites lol
My Son and his Fiancée have lived in Malta for more than 2 years and the only thing they don’t like is the traffic. I love visiting, it’s a fascinating country and I love the architecture and would happily live there.
Worst health system I have ever experienced. Every time I have to wait 4-5 hours for a 10 minute appointment with a doctor in the health centre. Procedural mistakes are made constantly and the personnel appears stressed out and overworked.
It’s not rocket science. Even if I exclude the lack of green spaces, the noise is too much.
I’ve never been anywhere with no relief from construction noise. It’s not viable for mental health to always hear hammering and banging or industrial machines digging.
The fact that this is normalized is so fucked up. Why would anybody be happy paying city center prices for rent when you have no quality of life at all.
You’re paying to live in central Sliema like it’s Monaco. Trash on the street, noise everywhere. It’s awful.
Ouch, spent a year there. Enjoyed my time but glad to be back home tbh. Definitely over populated but the quiet areas can be very chill.
i was born and raised here and they’re absolutely right, quality of life is shit here
Actually as an expat I don’t agree, I really like Malta. I have been here for three years and so far I haven’t had any really bad experiences, sometimes something inconvenient happens but nothing mayor.
Friendly and kind people, nice weather, high personal safety, plenty of jobs to go around. My quality of life has improved enormously since I came here. I came to Malta three years ago, alone and with little money but so far I can say Malta has been an excellent decision and I love it. Hopefully I will be able to stay here permanently, that would be a really nice thing.
As an expat the worst of all these things like corruption (got that everywhere), air pollution, traffic (also everywhere) , the worst thing for me and my family is a) the blatant racism – never in my life have i been in a place, where locals would go out of their way to point out you are a foreigner and as such imply you can’t possibly understand or have input in local matters. And b) the lack of accessible sports facilities – while there are some, majority are booked by various sports teams and clubs, leaving nothing open for the general public.
People don’t want to talk to foreigners anymore, they treat you with huge indifference unless there is something they can gain from you. And its impossible to make friendships with people from Malta (with some exceptions and Gozo as this is an almost different kind), not the mention ”go to your country” attitude that was (and still is) a huge problem before the pandemic.
I came here directly from Cyprus (I am not a national of Cyprus) where I thought I had found people generally closed and narrow-minded, and to my huge surprise, I miss Cyprus everyday now, and find people from there just the opposite what I thought it was (compared to Maltese). But yeah, I lived in Nicosia and expats there generally suffered and wanted to run away (until they do and then they all want come back). I have friends who moved to Cyprus from Malta and are of the same opinion. The climate is the same, but you will eventually suffocate in Malta and no-one will give you oxygen in need, plus you need to fight at every corner for everything. Not to mention Cyprus is able to sustain itself, where Malta can only feed 25% of its population only (is 30 times smaller of course).
The Maltese island is not so bad, everywhere is close, but you drive for long due to traffic or small streets with thousands of corners and so 100km around the island takes 4 hours behind the wheel. There are a few good restaurants, but generally it’s crap for tourists or Michelin star restaurant not worth a penny. In Cyprus ( I lived there before so I naturally compare it to Malta) you have souvlaki take away everywhere, greek restaurants (although Manakis in Buggiba was very good, compared to the one in Balluta), and people who actually argue in about the best souvlaki place of their choice! Have you ever heard Maltese people arguing where is the best rabit (that is not even native to the island…)?
It’s a pity, I tried many times with people here (my wife warned me several times), spent a lot of my private time to help a lot of people, but I gave up and don’t want to have anything in common with them. Maybe one day, there will be one person who really cares and wants to contribute to the friendship, but at the moment I don’t want to spend any minute more here or with them.