Household Finance and Consumption Survey: A Comparison of the Main Results for Malta with the Euro Area

This paper compares the main findings from the third wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) for Malta with those for the euro area. This comparative report finds that in 2016 the median Maltese household held more real and financial assets than households in the euro area. The median value of total liabilities of indebted Maltese households also stood higher than in the euro area. Despite higher total liabilities, the debt to-asset ratio indicates that Maltese households have a significantly higher amount of assets to back their debt. Largely reflecting the higher prevalence of homeownership in Malta, the median net wealth in Malta was estimated to be significantly higher than in the euro area as a whole. At the same time, gross income of Maltese households stood notably lower when compared to the euro area. Results also show that Maltese households spend more on food but considerably less on utilities. Against different macroeconomic and socio-demographic backgrounds, the survey results highlight heterogeneous developments between Malta and the euro area as a whole. The latter masks notable cross-country differences.