Cost of Living in Malta in 2020

Living in Malta it’s really expensive. If you are an employer who earn from 1300€ , maybe you would not complain. If you learn less, you would save few Euros or nothing.

Rent in Malta are really expensive, which is the biggest problem of this Island. I remember in 2015 an apartment with 3 bedrooms in gzira around 700/800, now for the same apartment they will ask you 1500/1600. Even for non touristic area and far away from the center, they want 900/1000 for an apartment with 2/3 bedrooms, and only a few people rent, the rest of apartments  remains unrented.

Buy food in a supermarket, I spent 120€/monthly now 150€ (same products)
Maybe this year an other supermarket  discount chain will open, so a bit price competition we need, as lidl became expensive too.

Minimum salary is 780€, compared to cost of living is not completely appropriate.

Public transport, maxinum expense in a month is 26€ (10€ if you live in gozo) , after the tariffs will be capped for the rest of the month.

Still cheaper than UK!

affordable !

I'm lucky as I inherited 2 maisonettes from my father in 1972 so don't have to pay rent. That said, some friends have commented just how much they have gone up in 2 years with a  2 bedroom flat in Qawra being advertised for 800 euros.

Firstly my large 2 floor duplex with roof is probably about the same size as my previous 4 bed house in the UK. Last year I paid about half the amount for electricity / gas and water as I would have paid in the UK (and I am an all electric flat).

As far as my car goes, both car tax and insurance are a bit cheaper (although my Fabia is a lot smaller than my previous Subaru in the UK). Where I really score is petrol as I use far less - approximately 11 euros per week as against £40 (and my husband put about £40 in his car as well).  Although we do drive, there just isn't the need to do so here. Public transport is so much cheaper - 25c (as pensioners). A short 5 minute drive to the station in the UK was £2.50 and the cost of a train / tube to central London nearly £20 return.

Both internet, cable TV and phone work out cheaper. Yes my husband is a TV / sports addict so we have the full Melita package as well as 100mb internet and a phone. This works out at about 61 euros per month- about what I'd pay for my 50 Mb Virgin internet subscription but then I had nearly £70 sky tv per month + phone on top .

The minus is food. If you are going to retain your UK habits then food will cost more. I shop in Lidl together with local shops and Miracle frozen foods. I do try to use what is in season so I won't pay for the current 2.75 for a cauliflower . However, Maltese strawberries are currently 3 euros for a large box locally. Swings and roundabouts. In general, I would say that both meat and fruit and veg are dearer but the quality is nearly always good (3.4 euros versus £2.75 for half kilo of minced beef). I am paying 1.10 euros for 6 large farm eggs which is cheaper than my farm UK equivalent. Dairy foods are always dearer - milk and butter. 96c for a litre of full cream Maltese milk (versus 80p in the UK). Pasta and rice are about the same price or less - 75c for a kilo of spaghetti (£1.06 in the UK). Sugar is dearer in the UK. Wine is considerably cheaper in Malta - I noticed that the Prosecco I buy in Lidl is about £1 dearer in the UK.

What is always considerably dearer is packet food mixes and curry  sauces. I try to get friends to bring some mixes over from the UK when they visit and do curry using spices from scratch. Specific UK favourite foods - e.g. Marmite are obtainable but more expensive

You also have to bear in mind that if you have a favourite brand (Yorkshire T bags for example), it may be difficult to obtain in Malta. This will make it dearer.

We are retired and most days we go to one of the Squares in Victoria and have a beer and coffee which is something we could not afford to do in the UK, we were surprised when we went back at Christmas at how expensive it was. 
Also you expect to pay more for some groceries as they have to be
imported and the shops here do not have the buying power of the large supermarkets in the UK.
I do also find that fresh vegetables and fruit to be better quality and cheaper here.

As a postscript, I would agree that in general, going out is less expensive than the UK. Certainly a coffee, tea, beer, wine and snack of some sort in a cafe is much less expensive. At the top end of the scale, I would budget €50-€70 per head for a 3 course meal Inc wine in a good restaurant. This is less than I would pay I London or the South East. The mid range is more debatable, depending on what you have where. Certainly ethnic restaurants (e.g Indian) can be more expensive. I pay €14 for an Indian buffet.

I used to think thar electronic white goods were always much more expensive than in the UK. Competition from EU has changed this and the difference is definitely not much. That said, I would always check the price on Amazon.de (usually less than the UK and less postage). Computing goods and mobile phones are always cheaper on line.