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Photo: Dirk Heldmaier derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 01 of 12 · Country Index 2026
Malta: Governance & Institutions
How well is the state actually run?
Malta is placed 39th of 193 countries on governance & institutions in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 5 key statistics. Readings behind it: Government Effectiveness 0.622 (2024); Government AI Readiness Index 61.48 (2025).
Governance & Institutions
39th
of 193 countries placed
Placed from 4 of 5 key statistics
- 0.622Government Effectiveness, 2024Governance estimate (−2.5 weak to 2.5 strong)
- 61.48Government AI Readiness Index, 2025AI readiness score (0–100)
- 83.85Statistical Performance Indicators, 2024SPI overall score (0–100)
- 49Corruption Perceptions Index, 2025CPI score (0–100, where 100 is very clean)
- —Open Data Inventory, 2024No reading for this country
01The evidence
The 5 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Malta on governance & institutions — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used; the grey ticks are every other country in that edition, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 5
Government Effectiveness
World Bank Group
Why it is a key: The quality of public services and the civil service that delivers them, and the credibility of a government's commitment to its own policies. Where the Corruption Perceptions Index asks whether a state is honest, this asks whether it is competent.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
0.622
Governance estimate (−2.5 weak to 2.5 strong)
Higher is better
Malta: 0.622. Across the 209 countries in this edition, values run from -2.173 (South Sudan) to 2.28 (Singapore); the world median is 0.01.
- World median
- 0.01
- Best in Southern Europe
- 1.159 Andorra
Each grey tick is one of 209 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 2 of 5
Government AI Readiness Index
Oxford Insights
Why it is a key: Government capacity to adopt modern technology in public service delivery. Correlates 0.835 with Statistical Performance, inside the 0.92 bar, and kept because readiness to use data is not the same as the ability to collect it.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0
61.48
AI readiness score (0–100)
Higher is better
Ranked 39th of 195 by Oxford Insights
Malta: 61.48. Across the 195 countries in this edition, values run from 12.12 (Guinea-Bissau) to 88.36 (United States); the world median is 40.19.
- World median
- 40.19
- Best in Southern Europe
- 74.22 Spain
Each grey tick is one of 195 countries in the 2025 edition.
Key 3 of 5
Statistical Performance Indicators
World Bank Group
Why it is a key: Whether a state can measure its own country. Nothing else here tests the capacity of the statistical system itself.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
83.85
SPI overall score (0–100)
Higher is better
Malta: 83.85. Across the 188 countries in this edition, values run from 27.12 (South Sudan) to 94.14 (Norway); the world median is 69.3.
- World median
- 69.3
- Best in Southern Europe
- 91.82 Spain
Each grey tick is one of 188 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 4 of 5
Corruption Perceptions Index
Transparency International
Why it is a key: How much corruption the people who actually deal with a government perceive — an outcome, where the rest of this topic measures capacity.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY 4.0 (the data), CC BY-ND 4.0 (the website and report)
49
CPI score (0–100, where 100 is very clean)
Higher is better
Ranked 60th of 181 by Transparency International
Malta: 49. Across the 182 countries in this edition, values run from 9 (Somalia) to 89 (Denmark); the world median is 39.
- World median
- 39
- Best in Southern Europe
- 58 Slovenia
Each grey tick is one of 182 countries in the 2025 edition.
Key 5 of 5
Open Data Inventory
Open Data Watch
Why it is a key: Whether official statistics are published openly and usably, which is a separate question from whether they are produced at all.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
No reading
ODIN overall score (0–100)
Higher is better
Open Data Watch publishes no 2024 figure for Malta, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 168 countries in this edition, values run from 19 (Turkmenistan) to 90 (Poland); the world median is 59.
- World median
- 59
- Best in Southern Europe
- 86 Slovenia
Each grey tick is one of 168 countries in the 2024 edition.
02Over time
Which way Malta is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Government Effectiveness
Governance estimate (−2.5 weak to 2.5 strong) · higher is better
MaltaWorld median
Malta fell from 0.805 in 2000 to 0.622 in 2024; the world median went from -0.316 to 0.01.
Every year’s figures
Year Malta World median 2024 0.6225 0.0100 2023 0.7610 -0.0178 2022 0.9129 -0.0433 2021 1.0227 -0.0445 2020 1.0778 -0.0570 2019 0.9937 0.0008 2018 1.0140 -0.0850 2017 1.0117 -0.0494 2016 1.1104 -0.0573 2015 1.0090 -0.0652 2014 1.0645 -0.0643 2013 1.1880 -0.1437 2012 1.0719 -0.1872 2011 0.9883 -0.2491 2010 0.9878 -0.2029 2009 0.9895 -0.2422 2008 1.1402 -0.2768 2007 1.0172 -0.2973 2006 0.9317 -0.3138 2005 0.8231 -0.3488 2004 0.6858 -0.2985 2003 0.7114 -0.4232 2002 0.8053 -0.3086 2000 0.8051 -0.3159 Government AI Readiness Index
AI readiness score (0–100) · higher is better
MaltaWorld median
Malta fell from 62.43 in 2020 to 61.48 in 2025; the world median went from 39.58 to 40.19.
Every year’s figures
Year Malta World median 2025 61.480 40.2 2024 63.643 43.3 2023 63.644 41.4 2022 62.752 40.3 2021 64.849 44.1 2020 62.434 39.6 Statistical Performance Indicators
SPI overall score (0–100) · higher is better
MaltaWorld median
Malta rose from 70.07 in 2016 to 83.85 in 2024; the world median went from 56.25 to 69.3.
Every year’s figures
Year Malta World median 2024 83.85 69.30 2023 85.66 68.86 2022 81.67 67.99 2021 81.61 69.96 2020 74.49 62.91 2019 75.54 61.19 2018 74.71 61.17 2017 74.50 59.55 2016 70.07 56.25 Corruption Perceptions Index
CPI score (0–100, where 100 is very clean) · higher is better
MaltaWorld median
Malta fell from 57 in 2012 to 49 in 2025; the world median went from 37 to 39.
Every year’s figures
Year Malta World median 2025 49 39.0 2024 46 40.0 2023 51 40.0 2022 51 39.5 2021 54 39.0 2020 53 40.0 2019 54 39.5 2018 54 38.0 2017 56 38.5 2016 55 38.0 2015 60 37.0 2014 55 38.0 2013 56 38.0 2012 57 37.0
03In context
Malta beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 193 countries on governance & institutions, never a place within the region.
1st193rdNot placed · 31 countries with too few key statisticsNo data
Malta and Southern Europe
Malta has no land border, so the table compares it with its sub-region. The standing is each country’s place among all 193 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | Government EffectivenessGovernance estimate (−2.5 weak to 2.5 strong) | Government AI Readiness IndexAI readiness score (0–100) | Statistical Performance IndicatorsSPI overall score (0–100) | Corruption Perceptions IndexCPI score (0–100, where 100 is very clean) | Open Data InventoryODIN overall score (0–100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Slovenia | =18th | 1.089 | 62.71 | 91.09 | 58 | 86 |
 Spain | 20th | 1.111 | 74.22 | 91.82 | 55 | 77 |
 Portugal | 22nd | 0.947 | 66.09 | 90.71 | 56 | 83 |
 Italy | 29th | 0.792 | 68.81 | 90.93 | 53 | 76 |
| Malta | 39th | 0.622 | 61.48 | 83.85 | 49 | — |
 Croatia | 46th | 0.71 | 49.79 | 85.05 | 47 | 60 |
 Greece | 54th | 0.191 | 60.51 | 86.58 | 50 | 51 |
 Serbia | 59th | 0.102 | 60.96 | 80.49 | 33 | 72 |
 North Macedonia | 65th | -0.032 | 37.57 | 87.17 | 40 | 67 |
 Albania | 68th | 0.312 | 43.44 | 83.65 | 39 | 58 |
 Montenegro | 74th | 0.366 | 39.9 | 73.89 | 46 | 55 |
 Kosovo | =96th | -0.061 | — | — | 43 | 56 |
 Andorra | 100th | 1.159 | 41.51 | 49.87 | — | — |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | =120th | -0.635 | 35.67 | 68.56 | 34 | 49 |
 Gibraltar | not placed | — | — | — | — | — |
 San Marino | not placed | 0.898 | 35.89 | — | — | — |
 Vatican City | not placed | — | — | — | — | — |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Across Southern Europe
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 193.
Placed either side on governance & institutions
The countries immediately above and below Malta in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Malta is ahead of the world, and behind
14 more statistics filed under governance & institutions, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median11
Statistics on which Malta does better than the middle country measured.
Agriculture Orientation IndexFAO · 2024 · world median 0.3052.290.305▲ Improved since 2014
Malta: 2.29 · world median 0.305 · Agriculture orientation index (1.0 = spending matches sector size). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0.03 to 5.38; higher is better.
Position 3rd of 132 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Trade Union DensityILO · 2020 · world median 16.6841.8916.68No earlier reading
Malta: 41.89 · world median 16.68 · Employees who are trade union members (%). International Labour Organization (ILO), 2020 edition, data for 2020.
Published values in that edition run from 0.2 to 91.42; higher is better.
Position 12th of 139 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Completeness of Birth RegistrationUNICEF · 2025 · world median 98.410098.4No earlier reading
Malta: 100 · world median 98.4 · Children under 5 whose birth is registered (%). UNICEF, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 2.7 to 100; higher is better.
V-Dem Electoral Democracy IndexV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 2025 · world median 0.4970.7830.497▲ Improved since 2015
Malta: 0.783 · world median 0.497 · Electoral democracy index (0–1). V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0.016 to 0.913; higher is better.
Position 33rd of 176 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Voice and AccountabilityWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median -0.020.922-0.02▼ Worsened since 2014
Malta: 0.922 · world median -0.02 · Voice and Accountability estimate (−2.5 to 2.5). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from -2.29 to 1.929; higher is better.
Position 45th of 208 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Social Protection CoverageILO · 2025 · world median 52.186.752.1No earlier reading
Malta: 86.7 · world median 52.1 · Population covered by at least one social protection benefit (%). International Labour Organization (ILO), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 100; higher is better.
Women, Business and the LawWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median 81.2591.2581.25▲ Improved since 2014
Malta: 91.25 · world median 81.25 · WBL Index (0–100, where 100 is full legal parity). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 26.25 to 100; higher is better.
Position 41st of 190 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Civic Space RatingsCIVICUS · 2025 · world median 50.4677.9950.46No earlier reading
Malta: 77.99 · world median 50.46 · Civic space score (0–100). CIVICUS, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 2.17 to 100; higher is better.
Position 48th of 198 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Rule of LawWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median -0.10.727-0.1▼ Worsened since 2014
Malta: 0.727 · world median -0.1 · Rule of Law estimate (−2.5 to 2.5). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from -2.205 to 2.021; higher is better.
Position 55th of 211 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Regulatory QualityWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median -0.090.492-0.09▼ Worsened since 2014
Malta: 0.492 · world median -0.09 · Regulatory Quality (−2.5 to 2.5). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from -2.035 to 2.132; higher is better.
Position 60th of 209 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Government Funding per Primary StudentUIS · 2022 · world median 17.8118.2917.81▼ Worsened since 2012
Malta: 18.29 · world median 17.81 · Government funding per primary student (% of GDP per capita). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 3.771 to 34.57; higher is better.
Position 33rd of 68 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No better end3
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Public Sector EmploymentWorld Bank Group · 2022 · world median 15.0128.615.01No earlier reading
Malta: 28.6 · world median 15.01 · Public sector employment (% of total employment). World Bank Group, 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 1.672 to 47.1.
Position 21st of 135 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Public Sector Wage BillWorld Bank Group · 2022 · world median 7.97512.057.975Moved since 2012
Malta: 12.05 · world median 7.975 · Public sector wage bill (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 0.977 to 42.65.
Position 27th of 168 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
General Government ConsumptionWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 16.2117.5316.21Moved since 2015
Malta: 17.53 · world median 16.21 · General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 5.445 to 38.94.
Position 58th of 132 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No current reading for Malta
Business Ready: Operational Efficiency, Business Ready: Public Services, Business Ready: Regulatory Framework, Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, Debt Service on External Debt, External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), Government Spending on Education (last 2022) and Open Data Inventory. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Governance & Institutions among Malta’s 12 topics
Governance & Institutions is Malta’s 8th best-placed topic of 12. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
- Peace & Security6th of 1773/3 keys
- Work & Labour20th of 1824/4 keys
- Development & Human Capital24th of 1942/3 keys
- Economy & Innovation20th of 1502/3 keys
- Health & Wellbeing36th of 2014/4 keys
- Mobility & Connectivity27th of 1473/3 keys
- Risk & Resilience35th of 1913/3 keys
- Governance & Institutions39th of 1934/5 keys
- Democracy & Civil Liberties42nd of 1983/3 keys
- Gender & Equality39th of 1783/3 keys
- Education & Knowledge71st of 1822/4 keys
- Environment & Sustainability136th of 1613/3 keys
06The top of the list
Who leads on governance & institutions
The three countries placed highest of 193, and the leaders Malta can most readily be measured against.
1
DenmarkNorthern Europe
1st of 193 · 5 of 5 keys
Photo: User:Aconcagua · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2
NorwayNorthern Europe
2nd of 193 · 5 of 5 keys
Photo: Ximonic , Simo Räsänen · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3
FinlandNorthern Europe
3rd of 193 · 5 of 5 keys
Photo: Joonas Lyytinen · CC BY-SA 2.5, greyscale
Placed highest nearby
Highest in Europe
Denmark1st5/5 keysHighest in Southern Europe
Slovenia=18th5/5 keysThis page
Malta39th4/5 keys
Positions out of 193 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Analysis
Charts and analysis about Malta and governance & institutions
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08Questions
Malta on governance & institutions: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Malta rank on governance & institutions?
Malta is placed 39th of 193 countries on Governance & Institutions in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 5 key statistics (Government Effectiveness, Government AI Readiness Index, Statistical Performance Indicators and Corruption Perceptions Index). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest Government Effectiveness figure for Malta?
0.622 in 2024 (governance estimate (−2.5 weak to 2.5 strong)), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 0.01.
What is the latest Government AI Readiness Index figure for Malta?
61.48 in 2025 (aI readiness score (0–100)), according to Oxford Insights. The world median in the same edition was 40.19.
How have Malta’s governance & institutions figures changed?
Government Effectiveness fell from 0.805 in 2000 to 0.622 in 2024; Government AI Readiness Index fell from 62.43 in 2020 to 61.48 in 2025; Statistical Performance Indicators rose from 70.07 in 2016 to 83.85 in 2024; Corruption Perceptions Index fell from 57 in 2012 to 49 in 2025.
Which governance & institutions statistics are missing for Malta?
No current reading is published for Malta on Business Ready: Operational Efficiency, Business Ready: Public Services, Business Ready: Regulatory Framework, Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, Debt Service on External Debt, External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), Government Spending on Education and Open Data Inventory. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
09Keep reading
Explore further
Malta, topic by topic
- Economy & Innovation20th of 150
- Work & Labour20th of 182
- Education & Knowledge71st of 182
- Health & Wellbeing36th of 201
- Development & Human Capital24th of 194
- Environment & Sustainability136th of 161
- Gender & Equality39th of 178
- Democracy & Civil Liberties42nd of 198
- Peace & Security6th of 177
- Risk & Resilience35th of 191
- Mobility & Connectivity27th of 147
- The full Malta profile
Nearby, on governance & institutions
The key statistics, for every country
10Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
Governance is not democracy. Free elections, civil liberties and press freedom belong to the Democracy & Civil Liberties topic, and a country can place well on one and poorly on the other. Nor does this topic measure the size of government or how much it spends — the share of the economy run by the state is published on this page as context, with no better end.
How the Governance & Institutions standing is decided, step by step
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
- A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 5 indicators on this topic are keys and 21 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
- Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2024 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
- Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
- Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
- The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
- A country needs 3 of this topic’s 5 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 193 countries clear the bar here.
- A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 5.
- A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.
The key statistics and their licences
- Government Effectiveness — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
- Government AI Readiness Index — Oxford Insights, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Statistical Performance Indicators — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
- Corruption Perceptions Index — Transparency International, CC BY 4.0 (the data), CC BY-ND 4.0 (the website and report)
- Open Data Inventory — Open Data Watch, CC BY 4.0
The other 14 statistics on this page come from 7 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Malta’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Malta (banner) — Dirk Heldmaier derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Denmark — User:Aconcagua, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Norway — Ximonic , Simo Räsänen, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Finland — Joonas Lyytinen, CC BY-SA 2.5
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Malta: Governance & Institutions — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/malta/governance