VALLETTA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Malta is going through an economic boom with historically low levels of poverty in 2017, according to official statistics published on Wednesday.
Speaking during a press conference for the publication of the statistics, Malta's Social Solidarity Minister, Michael Falzon, claimed that Malta had drastically reduced poverty since 2013.
As things currently stand, the average gross household income was estimated to be 33,573 euros (37,607 U.S. dollars) in 2017, while households' average disposable income was 27,830 euros.
The number of people at risk of poverty -- that is, earning less than 8,868 euros per annum -- had fallen from 24.6 percent to 19 percent since 2013.
The minister noted that the number of people living in conditions of severe material deprivation had also fallen substantially, dropping from 10.2 percent to just 3 percent.
Permanent Secretary Mark Musu said that around 70 measures which were intended to directly or indirectly address the issue of poverty in the last two budgets had been implemented, adding that it was expected that the impact of the measures would be noticeable over the next few years.
