Twelve years ago Malta's major problem was unemployment, with 8,000 people registering for work.
The claim is accurate. NSO's registered-unemployment data put the unemployment register at 7,279 in February 2013, rising to 7,639 by December 2013 — squarely consistent with Abela's 'about 8,000 registering for work.' And unemployment genuinely was a defining problem in the early 2010s: the registered unemployment rate was around 4.3% in 2012 and the broader Eurostat survey rate sat near 6.4% in 2013, both well above today's historic lows (a survey rate around 3%, and a register a fraction of its former size). The picture Abela paints — unemployment as a major early-2010s problem, with roughly 8,000 on the register, that has since been resolved — matches the record.
The claim is accurate. NSO's registered-unemployment data put the unemployment register at 7,279 in February 2013, rising to 7,639 by December 2013 — squarely consistent with Abela's 'about 8,000 registering for work.' And unemployment genuinely was a defining problem in the early 2010s: the registered unemployment rate was around 4.3% in 2012 and the broader Eurostat survey rate sat near 6.4% in 2013, both well above today's historic lows (a survey rate around 3%, and a register a fraction of its former size). The picture Abela paints — unemployment as a major early-2010s problem, with roughly 8,000 on the register, that has since been resolved — matches the record.
We tested Abela's claim against NSO registered-unemployment data (register total 7,279 in February 2013, rising to 7,639 by December 2013; 2012 annual average 6,839) and the Eurostat survey-based unemployment rate (6.4% in 2013, falling to roughly 3% by 2024). The methodological question is whether 'twelve years ago unemployment was the major problem, with around 8,000 registering' fairly describes the period.
Verdict lands at True because both halves of the claim hold. The register sat close to 8,000 through 2013 — 7,279 in February, 7,639 by December — so 'about 8,000 registering for work' is an accurate description of the period. And unemployment was unambiguously a leading economic and political concern in the early 2010s, with rates well above today's historic lows, before the register fell to a fraction of that level. The deep-dive sets out the register figures and the rate trajectory; the claim is supported on both the scale of the problem and the size of the register.
Was unemployment really Malta's major problem twelve years ago
The picture Abela paints is accurate. Unemployment was a real and prominent concern in Malta in the early 2010s, and the register was close to the figure he gives — around 8,000 people registering for work. The contrast with today, when the register has fallen to a fraction of that level, is stark.
The early-2010s labour market
NSO's registered-unemployment data give the figures. The total on the unemployment register stood at 7,279 in February 2013 — 6,732 under Part 1 (new jobseekers, re-entrants and redundancies) and 547 under Part 2 — and rose to 7,639 by December 2013, with a 2012 annual average of 6,839. That is squarely consistent with Abela's "about 8,000 registering for work." On the rate measures, the registered unemployment rate averaged 4.3% in 2012, while the broader Eurostat survey rate stood near 6.4% in 2013 — high by Malta's own later standards, even if already below a euro-area average then above 10%. Joblessness, and youth joblessness in particular, was a defining theme of the 2013 election, so the "major problem" framing is sound.
What happened next
Whatever the exact starting figure, the direction since is not in dispute: the rate fell to historic lows and has stayed there, apart from a brief COVID-era uptick in 2020.
The register has since fallen to a few thousand at most, and Malta now records one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU. So the "then versus now" contrast Abela is drawing is genuine — unemployment really was a headline problem in the early 2010s and is not one today.
So is the claim accurate?
Yes. Unemployment was a major Maltese problem in the early 2010s — a register of around 8,000 (7,279 in February 2013, rising to 7,639 by December) and rates well above today's — and it has since fallen to historic lows. Both halves of Abela's claim are supported.
Verdict: True.