country profile

Malta

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & PakistanHigh income580K population

Last updated August 26, 2026

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Advanced readiness

Composite GEFRI Score

Access & Parity is strong, but Innovation lags

Malta shows advanced readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (77th percentile worldwide). Most dimensions perform above global norms, and the system has clear capacity to scale future-oriented initiatives.

75.34Composite score
Global percentile
77th
Global rank
#42
Regional rank
#4
Viewing data for
Advanced readiness
Infrastructure
88.02
79th percentileGlobal avg. 70.44
Advanced readiness
Human Capital
83.83
82nd percentileGlobal avg. 66.18
Emerging readiness
Innovation
48.01
51st percentileGlobal avg. 48.64
Progressing readiness
Governance
63.05
77th percentileGlobal avg. 47.07
Target achieved
Access & Parity
93.80
83rd percentileGlobal avg. 60.85

Country profile

Malta ranks among the stronger performers in GEFRI, but still falls short of the target-readiness threshold. Most dimension scores sit close to global norms, without a single dimension standing far above the rest.

Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned. High internet adoption enables broad participation in digital learning and innovation. Strong tertiary enrollment expands future talent pipelines and strengthens national innovation potential.

R&D investment remains modest, affecting long-term innovation potential. Gender parity across secondary pathways reflects sustained commitment to equitable participation.

Innovation presents a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning. Regionally, Malta leads most clearly in School Access and Gender Parity, sitting well above the peer average.

Most indicators are observed rather than imputed, so estimation uncertainty is limited.

Key insights

Sits above the global median at the 77th percentile.

Places 42nd worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 4th within Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan.

Scores range from Access & Parity (93.8) to Innovation (48.0), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Leads regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.

Regional peers: Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
191Israel84.75
322United Arab Emirates80.68
393Saudi Arabia76.67
424Malta75.34
465Qatar72.99
536Bahrain71.18
627Oman69.09
728Kuwait68.04
769Morocco66.91
7710Jordan66.65
8211Tunisia64.69
9012Egypt, Arab Rep.60.85
10613Iran, Islamic Rep.FCS56.11
10814Algeria54.87
11015West Bank and GazaFCS53.03
11916Djibouti46.86
12217IraqFCS44.97
12618LebanonFCS43.40
13119LibyaFCS42.27
14820Syrian Arab RepublicFCS34.76
16321Yemen, Rep.FCS28.79