The Expats Insider, one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive surveys on life abroad, had quite a lot to a say about our little island in a recent survey: some good, some bad, and some, well, ugly. Having been an expat myself for a hot minute, I can see their points.

The survey included the views of a total of 18,315 expats from across the globe, representing 178 nationalities living in 187 countries or territories. 68 countries were included in the overall rankings.

The praises

Malta ranked pretty highly in personal safety, with 87 per cent of respondents being generally happy with the factor. Our islands ranked 14th in the area of Finding Friends, 19th in Feeling at Home, and 25th in Ease of Settling in.

Our little rock also ranked 13th when it comes to Leisure Options (I mean, have you seen our nightlife?); 29th in Personal Happiness and 38th in both Safety and Security and Quality of Life. Not bad for a tiny island!

Our highest score was 11th place in Career Prospects and Satisfaction, followed by 12th place in Working Abroad and 14th place in both Work and Leisure and Personal Finance. 96 per cent of respondents also voted in favour of the magnificent climate and weather on the Maltese Islands... I mean duh.

The rages

While Malta kicked ass in the above categories, we’ve got to pull our socks up in certain areas. We ranked 57th (almost in the bottom 10) in Travel and Transport (oops!) and 35th in Friendliness (um, really?)

Expats also complained about the ‘lack of peacefulness in Malta,’ making our islands drop from its previous 19th to 38th place in the Quality of Life index, with only 56 per cent giving Malta's political stability a positive rating. Yikes! 

Do you agree with the stats? Let us know in the comments!