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Country guide· 20 min read

Malta rankings 2026: where Malta places in 122 global Top 10s

Malta is #1 in Countries with the highest foreign investment inflows, #1 in 2 rankings and inside the top 10 of 14 rankings. Every position, value and source, regenerated as the data refreshes.

Malta appears in 122 of the 491 live country rankings on Top10Earth. This guide walks through every one of them: where Malta is number one, where it makes the top 10, where it sits further down the table, and what has moved since the previous snapshot. Its best position is #1 in Countries with the highest foreign investment inflows, where it is measured at 170.05 % of GDP (Foreign direct investment net inflows) as of 2026-11-02. Malta holds the #1 spot in 2 rankings and finishes inside the top 10 in 14 rankings.

Where Malta is number one

These are the rankings Malta currently tops. The next country in each table is listed too, because a #1 by a whisker and a #1 by a mile are different stories.

Top 10 finishes

Malta is inside the top 10 of 12 further rankings beyond the ones it leads. Each entry names the country directly above it, which is the position to beat at the next refresh.

Malta by theme

The rankings are grouped by category below, so the economic picture, the health picture and the environmental picture can be read separately. Positions are out of the number of countries each source reports, which differs by ranking.

Finance and crypto

In finance and crypto, Malta holds 33 positions: #1 of 50 in Countries with the highest foreign investment inflows (170.05 % of GDP), #1 of 50 in Countries with the highest foreign investment outflows (145.59 % of GDP), #2 of 50 in Countries by trade in services (169.44 % of GDP) and #6 of 50 in Most trade-dependent economies (trade as share of GDP) (219.01 % of GDP). 29 more rankings are listed below.

Health and wellbeing

In health and wellbeing, Malta holds 30 positions: #5 of 50 in Countries with the highest pancreatic cancer death rates (9.54 per 100,000 people), #7 of 50 in Countries with the highest bladder cancer death rate (3.72 deaths per 100,000 people), #9 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people using basic sanitation (100 % of population) and #12 of 50 in Countries with the highest healthy life expectancy at birth (70.71 years). 26 more rankings are listed below.

World and society

In world and society, Malta holds 27 positions: #3 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people using safely managed sanitation (100 %), #5 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people living in the capital city (68.72 %), #9 of 50 in Countries with the most registered vehicles per 1,000 people (788.42 per 1,000 people) and #10 of 50 in Countries with the highest hepatitis B vaccine coverage in infants (99 %). 23 more rankings are listed below.

Food and agriculture

In food and agriculture, Malta holds 10 positions: #6 of 50 in Countries with the most irrigated farmland (share) (33.87 % of total agricultural land), #23 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of overexploited fish stocks (60 %), #26 of 50 in Countries using the most pesticides per hectare of cropland (12.74 kg per hectare) and #26 of 50 in Countries with the highest taxes as a share of cigarette price (77.56 %). 6 more rankings are listed below.

Environment and energy

In environment and energy, Malta holds 9 positions: #3 of 50 in Countries with the highest consumption-based CO2 per person (26.82 tonnes per person), #11 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of electricity from natural gas (84.26 % of total electricity), #16 of 50 in Countries with the highest energy use per person (67.32 MWh) and #38 of 50 in Countries with the highest freshwater withdrawals (45.51 % of internal resources). 5 more rankings are listed below.

Education and science

In education and science, Malta holds 7 positions: #12 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of students from abroad (29.56 %), #30 of 50 in Countries with the highest pre-primary school enrolment (93.19 %), #32 of 50 in Countries with the most students reaching minimum reading level (primary) (90.24 %) and #33 of 50 in Countries with the most students reaching minimum maths level (lower sec.) (67.4 %). 3 more rankings are listed below.

Consumer tech

In consumer tech, Malta holds 5 positions: #5 of 50 in Countries by communications, computer, etc. (75.16 % of service imports, BoP), #16 of 50 in Countries with the most fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people (44.51 per 100 people), #34 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people using the internet (93.86 %) and #37 of 50 in Countries by mobile subscriptions per 100 people (142.07 per 100 people). 1 more ranking is listed below.

Travel

In travel, Malta holds 1 position: #15 of 50 in Countries where tourist spending is the largest share of GDP (26.28 % of GDP).

What changed at the latest refresh

Comparing each ranking's newest snapshot with the one before it, Malta moved in 112 rankings:

Where Malta ranks lowest

A guide that only listed wins would be misleading. Malta's lowest current positions are 50th of 50 in Countries with the highest diabetes death rates (16.98 per 100,000 people), 50th of 50 in Countries with the highest share of adults who use tobacco (24.6 % of adults) and 49th of 50 in Biggest service exporters (25.03 BoP, current US$ bn). Whether a low position is good or bad depends on the metric: being near the bottom of an emissions or mortality ranking is the better place to be.

Every ranking that includes Malta

How to read these numbers

Each ranking measures one metric from one named source at one time, so a #3 in one table and a #3 in another are not directly comparable. Countries also report in different years: the capture date is when Top10Earth fetched the data, while the source's own year is stated on each ranking page under methodology. For a side-by-side with another country on the same measures, open any ranking and use the head-to-head links, or visit Malta's entity page for the live table and rank-history chart.

Top10Earth never estimates or edits a value. Each number is fetched from its source on a schedule, hashed, stored and ranked by software, then checked by a quality gate before it is published. If a refresh fails that gate the previous snapshot stays live and a person looks at why. Every past snapshot is kept, which is what makes the rank-history charts on each ranking page possible.

Questions people ask about Malta

What is Malta's best ranking on Top10Earth?

#1 in Countries with the highest foreign investment inflows, with 170.05 % of GDP (Foreign direct investment net inflows) as of 2026-11-02.

How many rankings include Malta?

122 current country rankings out of 491 on the site, including 2 rankings where it is #1.

Is Malta in the top 10 of anything?

Yes: 14 rankings, including #1 in Countries with the highest foreign investment inflows, #1 in Countries with the highest foreign investment outflows and #2 in Countries by trade in services.

Where do the numbers come from?

From Our World in Data and World Bank Open Data. Each ranking page names its source, metric definition and capture date.

When was this guide last updated?

The newest snapshot used here was captured on 2026-11-02. The guide is regenerated automatically as rankings refresh.

Live table and history →

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