Mundo´s country rating is essentially a freedom index whereby our team of specialists rate a combination of freedoms which include freedom from violence and personal attacks, financial freedom from high taxes, business freedom from government interference and especially from socialism and communism. 

Political stability: 8.5

Malta’s political system is a two-party system. The country has been a stable democracy since its independence. However, the country is ruled by the Labour Party, which is a center-left party. In most cases, that would typically mean higher taxes, expropriations, and a decrease in business freedom. But curiously, that hasn’t been the case. In fact, the Labour government was the one that introduced the CBI and RBI programs, and significantly lowered the public deficit. However, it’s still a socialist party, so there are more radical factions in the party. The government is pretty popular and has been in power since 2013, so it doesn’t seem that the most radical members of the party will be taking power anywhere soon.

Personal safety: 10

Malta is one of the safest countries in the world. It has one of the lowest crime rates in the EU, and violent crimes are incredibly rare. The most common crimes are petty crimes such as pickpocketing during the summer, and mainly on touristic places. That means that standard precautions and avoiding extremely crowded places are more than enough to be completely safe in Malta.

Lifestyle: 8

Malta is a wonderful country to live in. It has some of the best beaches in the Mediterranean and vibrant culture. It has a strong expat community and worldwide tourists year long. That means there is a good nightlife and constant events. However, it still is a 500,000 inhabitants’ country. If that’s fine with you, perfect. But some might be too used to bigger cities with all their fuzz, and that’s not quite what you can get in Malta.

Tax optimization: 9

When you see that Malta has a 35 % corporate tax rate and a 35 % income tax rate, you may think we are driving insane for giving this score. However, you have to dig deeper. Malta offers plenty of tax refunds that may lower your total corporate tax to as little as 5 %. Likewise, for those who apply to the RBI and CBI programs and certain other categories, the income tax rate is lowered to 15 %. There’s much to love in Malta’s tax system.

Investment Potential: 8

Malta has an incredibly diversified economy, especially considering its small size and population, and its almost total lack of natural resources. That means there are extraordinary investment opportunities for all kinds of investors: those who seek to invest in high-tech, pharmaceutics, aero-parts, and many other manufacturing sectors can find their place in Malta. Likewise, the country is a top touristic destination, has a booming real estate market, offers VAT incentives for yachting, and is well-established as a robust, business-friendly financial services jurisdiction. Nevertheless, Malta isn’t very well ranked in the Index of Economic Freedom (23^rd in Europe) or the Doing Business ranking. In fact, according to the latter, Malta is the next-to-last worst country in the ranking of ease of doing business among European and states only over Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially for the high costs of permits and procedures.

Still, Malta’s economy has unparalleled potential and is one of the most stable economies in Europe. That means it’s worth the bet, even if some regulations may still not be fully business-friendly.

TOTAL: 43 (out of 50), A-.