Cost of living in Malta

The headline numbers

On Darscover today, the median asking rent for a studio or one-bedroom home in Malta is €1,200 a month (6,401 listings). All in, one person in that home spends about €2,269 a month: rent, utilities and telecoms at official prices, and groceries, eating out, health, a car and everything else at what one-adult households in Malta spend, from Eurostat. Rents differ widely by area: the table below prices each one.

Asking rents by area and size

The median asking rent a month of the homes advertised on Darscover today, with the number of listings behind each figure in brackets. An area and size with fewer than 10 listings is withheld: its count is shown, its figure is not.

Housing

The calculator above prices rent from the homes advertised on Darscover today, by locality and size, with the number of listings behind each figure. Where an area has fewer than 10 listings of a size, the figure is withheld rather than guessed.

Utilities and internet

Electricity and water are billed by ARMS at tariffs approved by the regulator, REWS. Residential rates apply only when the people living in the home are registered on the ARMS account; without them the higher domestic rate applies (€0.1365 a kWh for the first 2,000 kWh instead of €0.1047). A tenant opening an account pays a deposit of €466. Fibre broadband starts at €19.95 a month on the MCA's telecosts comparison.

Food and groceries

Groceries (food and soft drinks) come to about €297 a month for one adult, €517 for two adults and €578 for two adults with children; eating out adds €114, €190 and €239. These are what households in Malta spend, from Eurostat's household budget survey at 2025 prices. Food prices in Malta stand at 110.9 and restaurant and hotel prices at 88.7, against an EU average of 100 (2024).

Transport

Buses are free on day and night routes with a personalised tallinja card: an adult card costs €25 once and usually arrives within two weeks. Without one, a single ticket costs €2 in winter, €2.50 in summer and €3 at night, valid for two hours with transfers. Petrol costs €1.34 a litre and diesel €1.21, prices Malta fixes (EU Weekly Oil Bulletin). Households spend €61 to €185 a month on average running a car (fuel, parts and repairs), counting those without one; buying a car is not included.

Healthcare

Mater Dei Hospital is Malta's main public hospital. EU citizens who settle in Malta get public healthcare with an Entitlement Certificate, for example on an S1 form from their own country; the European Health Insurance Card is not accepted for people who settle here. The moving plan lists the steps. Households in Malta pay €79 to €135 a month for health from their own pocket (medicines, doctors, dentists; Eurostat). No official source publishes a private GP's fee, so this page gives none.

Education

State schools are free. International schools, including Verdala International School, QSI International School and Chiswick House School, publish their own fees. No official source publishes school fees, so the budgets below leave them out.

Sample monthly budgets

Three households at the median asking rent for all of Malta and Gozo. Rent is what homes advertised on Darscover ask; electricity, water, broadband, mobiles and buses are at their official prices; groceries, eating out, health, a car and everything else are what households in Malta of the same make-up spend, from Eurostat's household budget survey.

Not in the totals: school fees, which no official source publishes (state schools are free), and buying a car.

Add the one-off cost of the move with the moving cost calculator →

Working for yourself? See what setting up a company in Malta costs →

The survey lines are the averages of households in Malta of the same make-up (one adult; two adults; two adults with children) in Eurostat's household budget survey, which publishes Malta's 2015 survey at 2020 prices. Each line is brought to 2025 prices with Malta's consumer price index for its own category: the prices are current, the habits are the survey's. Most surveyed households own their home, so their housing, utility and phone costs are replaced here by rent and the official tariffs.

Sources and method

Rents are the median asking rent of homes advertised on Darscover now, after removing duplicates, flagged listings, prices on request and implausible prices, by area and by bedrooms. An area and size with fewer than 10 listings is withheld: its count is shown, its figure is not.

Asking rents across 47,440 listings from 23 sources, not the whole Malta rental market and not the rents people finally agree. The two largest sources supply 59.5% of them. Rents computed October 27, 2026.

How the rent figures are computed →

Official figures

Official statistics

• Household spending by type of household and category, Malta (2015 survey at 2020 prices): the budgets' groceries, eating out, health, car and everything-else lines. Eurostatchecked October 3, 2026
• Consumer prices by category, Malta, 2020 to 2025: bring each of those lines to 2025 prices. Eurostatchecked October 3, 2026
• Price level indices, 2024: the country comparisons. Eurostatchecked October 3, 2026
• Earnings of a single worker on the average wage, Malta, 2025: €32,868 a year before tax, €25,273 after. Eurostatchecked October 3, 2026
• Minimum wage, Malta, 2026: €994 a month. Eurostatchecked October 3, 2026
• Fuel prices with taxes, Malta: petrol €1.34 and diesel €1.21 a litre. European Commission (Weekly Oil Bulletin)checked October 3, 2026

• Residential rates apply only when the people living in the home are registered on the ARMS account.
• Not applied in the totals: households using little electricity may get the eco-reduction, a discount ARMS applies to the bill.
• Water figures are shown as REWS publishes them.
• Telecoms prices are the lowest listed on the MCA's telecosts comparison on the day checked, VAT included; compare every plan there.
• Gas cylinders are not in the total: not every home cooks on gas.

Malta versus other relocation destinations

Eurostat compares what the same household consumption costs in each country (price level indices, EU average 100). In 2024, Malta stood at 93.1.