In what can only be described as a desperate attempt to deflect from its own internal turmoil, the Nationalist Party (PN), through its official mouthpiece Il-Mument, has concocted a misleading narrative surrounding youth emigration in Malta

The story, headlined “In five years, between 2019 and 2023, 20,000 Maltese youths leave Malta”, appears to be more an exercise in political propaganda than any genuine concern for Maltese youth. It is, in essence, a fiction drawn up from thin air, or more precisely, from a gross distortion of publicly available data.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

The article cites figures provided by Minister Clyde Caruana in response to a Parliamentary question tabled by PN MP Bernice Bonello – who, incidentally, is the daughter of the party’s new Secretary General. Bonello, doubling down on the narrative, went on to offer commentary in the same Il-Mument issue, asserting that 20,000 Maltese and Gozitan youths had left the country between 2019 and 2023, including over 6,700 in 2023 alone.

What neither Il-Mument nor Bonello disclose, however, is that the very same data also shows that more than 54,000 young people aged 15–29 returned to Malta during that same period. That’s nearly three times the number that left.

The figures, as provided:

Even more crucially, Minister Caruana clarified that the figures encompass both Maltese and non-Maltese nationals, a key point omitted by the PN. Malta, as a member of the EU, sees significant movement of people across borders – a natural aspect of freedom of movement, not a national crisis.

A Pattern of Misleading Rhetoric

This isn’t the first time the PN has manipulated data to paint a doomsday scenario. It has become a recurring pattern: cherry-pick a number, strip it of context, stir up public anxiety, and try to score cheap political points – often on the backs of migrants or the younger generation. It’s a cynical strategy that trades truth for soundbites.

Earlier this year, even the Times of Malta Fact Checker found PN’s claims on youth emigration to be misleading. Their analysis confirmed what Minister Caruana’s data shows: more young people are returning to Malta than are leaving, and the trend of outward youth migration has been declining.

Yet the PN persists, seemingly unmoved by facts. Instead of addressing its leadership struggles and credibility issues – including the mounting pressure on Bernard Grech – it has opted to fabricate crises where there are none. This episode, front-paged by Il-Mument, exemplifies the party’s increasingly unhinged approach to public discourse.

The Real Damage

What’s most alarming is not just the dishonesty – though that alone is concerning – but the potential harm such fearmongering can cause. By peddling a false narrative that our youth are fleeing en masse, the PN risks disillusioning young people and undermining national confidence. Worse, by conflating EU mobility with “exodus,” they subtly stoke anti-foreigner sentiment at a time when unity and openness are more essential than ever.

The truth is simple: Malta continues to thrive, attracting thousands of young people, Maltese and foreign alike, who see the island as a place of opportunity. The economy remains one of the fastest-growing in the EU, thanks in no small part to the contributions of these very individuals.

Conclusion

The PN’s attempt to weaponise emigration statistics reveals more about their desperation than it does about the state of the country. It is a textbook case of data manipulation, supported by partisan spin and shamelessly disseminated through party-owned media. Voters deserve better than this cynical distortion of reality.

If the Nationalist Party wishes to regain relevance, it must start by telling the truth, not inventing crises to score political points. Until then, it is not the youth who are abandoning Malta, but rather the PN that continues to abandon facts.